European Universities Games: Christoph Heiniger narrowly beats Ali Kaya at round-of-16 stage
Switzerland’s upcoming young player Christoph Heiniger worked extra hard to secure his berth in Men’s Singles quarter-final as he narrowly defeated his lower ranked opponent Ali Kaya of Turkey in round-of-16 clash at the European Universities Games-Badminton
Individual Tournament on Monday, July 16, in Spain.
The aggressive Heiniger, who is sixth seeded player in main draw of the championship, had to utilise all of his reserves to overpower his stubborn opponent in a hard-fought contest that took top quality badminton from both men.
The higher ranked Heiniger found a convincing start when he nailed the opening set but failed to finish the set in straight games as his opponent put up good show and made the score levelled.
However, the Swiss man remained lucky as he controlled his nerves in the deciding game and managed to win it with a tight score.
Kaya, on the other hand, showed tremendous performance and troubled his higher ranked rival throughout the contest. However, he failed to make his mark over his Swiss opponent at the ending points of deciding game and lost the battle with a decent score.
Heiniger controlled the affairs from opening points and dictated the pace of rallies. He was slightly ahead of his Turkish rival until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Heiniger continued showing his class on court while remaining positive. He secured the first set easily with a 21-17 score on the board.
In the following game, Kaya also made his presence felt by playing superb badminton. He proved a tough nut to crack for Heiniger by playing flawlessly and remained ahead until the break.
The higher ranked Heiniger was helpless against the perfect play of his lower ranked Turkish opponent and lost the set with a 16-21 score on the board.
However, the nail-biting fight was yet to come as both men proved their impressive class in the deciding game and remained toe-to-toe until the score reached at the ending points.
At this stage, Heiniger played impressive badminton with wonderful anticipation and won the game with a 21-19 score on the board.
Heiniger won this Men’s Singles round-of-16 battle in three games with a tight margin of 21-17, 16-21 and 21-19.
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