European Universities Games: Lukas Schmidt sends Sebastian Schottler packing in quarter-final clash
Lukas Schmidt, a committed young player from Germany, showed his class while playing against his team-mate Sebastian Schottler in quarter-final clash and easily sent him packing at the European Universities Games-Badminton Individual Tournament 2012 on Monday, July 16, in Spain.
The in-form Lukas, who has been seeded at number two in Men’s Singles main draw, proved too strong on court for his seventh seeded compatriot and grabbed victory without facing any problem.
Higher ranked German player had to work a little hard in winning the first game. However, it was a smooth sailing in the second game and he ousted his country-mate in straight sets in just 18 minutes.
In contrast, Sebastian gave a good fight to his higher ranked opponent in the opening contest but failed to show his brilliance in second set of the battle and crashed out at the top-eight stage without creating a strong impact.
Starting game of this fight was absolutely thrilling when both shuttlers put up wonderful show of fast and aggressive badminton and snapped each other’s heel while remaining quick on court.
However, Lukas utilised his extensive experience and kept his rival away from net which helped him to dominate the game and he established a reasonable gap on the score board until the mid-game interval.
Higher ranked Lukas played positive and controlled game while remaining quick in his footwork. He did not spare any chance to maintain his supremacy on score board and eventually took the game with a margin of 21-18.
In the following set, Lukas took over the control with an impressive ease as he played fast badminton and pushed Sebastian on back foot.
Impressive smashes and net play helped Lukas to take a comfortable lead until the one-minute break.
After the interval, Lukas maintained his roller-coaster performance on court as he did not drop the pace of rallies throughout the ending phase and grabbed the game with a tremendous margin of 21-12.
The second seeded Lukas gave a severe lesson to his team-mate in just 18 minutes by ending up the fight with a striking 21-18 and 21-12 score on the board.
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