German Open GP Gold: Simon Santoso thrashes Yong Zhao Ashton Chen in Men’s Singles pre-quarter-final
Indonesia’s ace shuttler Simon Santoso lived up to expectations as he marched into Men’s Singles top-eight bracket by beating Singapore’s Yong Zhao Ashton Chen in the pre-quarter-final clash at German Open GP Gold 2012 in Germany, on Thursday, March 1.
The World Number 11 Santoso, who has been positioned at number five in the Men’s Singles seeding of the tournament, displayed a strong character as he did not show any mercy to his lower ranked rival and won the fight easily.
On the other hand, Yong Zhao could not match the speed and skills of his higher ranked Indonesian opponent and lost the match in straight games in just 35 minutes.
Santoso started the first game in an impressive way as he did not face any resistance from his rival in taking an early lead.
He executed powerful smashes in the right areas and built pressure on his opponent from the starting points.
The Singaporean made many unforced mistakes in the first few points and lost his confidence as he could not cope up with the pace of his challenger.
Until the one-minute interval, Santoso established a remarkable gap by reaching at 11-3.
After the break, he continued playing in the similar manner against his confused opponent and maintained his lead throughout the concluding half. Santoso won the opening set with an incredible 21-6 score on the board.
In the second set, Yong Zhao played better game as he took an early lead by reaching at 5-0. However, he failed to maintain it as Simon played with aggression and levelled the score at 7-7.
The score remained tight until the interval in second set where the lower ranked Singaporean was slightly ahead at 11-9.
After the break, Santoso geared up his speed at net and controlled the pace of rallies. Both shuttlers remained close in the concluding phase by reaching at 17-17.
At this crucial stage, Santoso utilised his experience and started to keep the bird low. He remained dominant in the ending rallies of second set and won it with a 21-17 score on the board.
The Indonesian emerged as the winner against the Singaporean with a fabulous margin of 21-6 and 21-17.
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