Henry Liu, Alice Liu rule in Under-22 Mixed Doubles event of 2012 MBBC Jr. International
The Mixed Doubles experts Henry Liu and Alice Liu of Chinese Taipei ruled the court in the final round of Under-22 category in MBBC Jr. International on Friday, July 20, 2012.
They stunned the top ranked Norwegian duo Carl Christian Hem-Anne Klyve to raise their country’s flag at Manhattan Beach in California, USA.
However, they literally had to earn this honour as the opposing team put up a decent fight before losing with 14-21 and 20-22 score.
Henry and Alice, who were placed at third spot in tournament ranking, registered their presence by bagging first set with a huge difference of seven points.
They launched a brisk attack and did not give their challengers a single chance to get settled. They built pressure with 5-2 margin and then doubled the impact by reaching at commanding position of 8-5.
At this stage, Carl and Anne made swift progress and narrowed the gap with 7-8 but they could not withstand the intensive campaign of their rivals and lost the first half with 7-11.
The Taipei couple Henry-Alice made best out of this initial advantage and raised their total to 15-9 in third quarter of the set.
Though they lost focus in final phase but still managed to finish opening game with a favourable figure of 21-14.
Next game proved best part of the match as both teams displayed commendable craft on the court and made this a memorable contest.
In the first half, Henry and Alice were stepping forward at steady pace but couple of mistakes put their expedition on halt.
They took off in perfect manner but could not enjoy a smooth flight after 5-2 score position and stayed grounded until half time.
Meanwhile, the opposing shuttlers relished full benefits of their fall and piled up a respectable total of 11-8 before one-minute break.
Later part of the game proved neck-and-neck contest as both contenders strived hard to exceed the opponent.
None of them could establish a significant lead as they remained toe-to-toe all the way to game point situation.
Finally, this race ended when Henry and Alice pocketed ending two points in decisive figure of 22-20.
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