German Open Grand Prix Gold: Tommy Sugiarto stuns Lee Hyun Il in Men’s Singles round-of-16
Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto proved his elevated craft in the court as he stunned Korea’s Lee Hyun Il in Men’s Singles round-of-16 at the German Open Grand Prix Gold 2012 in Germany, on Thursday, March 1.
The World Number 19 Sugiarto, who is ninth seed in the main draw of German Open, showed his wonderful skills and thrashed the fourth seed Lee Hyun, who has been positioned at number seven in Men’s Singles world placements.
The higher ranked Lee Hyun remained struggling as he could not find gaps in his rival’s court and also could not produce finishing strokes in the second and third games and unexpectedly lost the match to his lower ranked opponent.
In the first set, the Indonesian was playing at his maximum speed and was miles ahead of his Korean opponent at 11-6 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, Lee Hyun geared up his speed and started to bridge the gap. He changed his game plan and played superb net shots which troubled the flow of his rival.
The Korean continued playing elevated game and levelled the score by reaching at 15-15. Sugiarto could not dominate the pace in the ending phase and lost the set with a margin of 18-21.
In the second set, both players put up wonderful show of top quality game as they played attacking badminton and remained toe-to-toe until the one-minute interval.
After the break, Sugiarto changed his strategy and played with precision. He accelerated his speed in all areas and did not spare any room for his higher ranked opponent. He remained on track and took the set with a wonderful difference of 21-14.
In the decider, Lee Hyun played well and remained close to his in-form opponent by reaching at 8-8. However, Sugiarto increased his speed and managed to take an 11-8 lead until the break.
After the interval, Sugiarto played positive and aggressive badminton and ended the final set with a remarkable score of 21-15. He won this three-set fight with a margin of 18-21, 21-14 and 21-15.
In the quarter-final clash, Sugiarto will take on Ville Lang of Finland, who defeated Christian Lind Thomsen in the other pre-quarter-final contest.
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