Howard Shu qualifies for semi-final spot of Canadian International Challenge – Badminton news
Men’s Singles campaigner Howard Shu of USA stretched his winning streak in the quarter-finals of Ottawa Canadian International Challenge and reserved a semi-final berth on June 27, 2013.
He locked horns with a native shuttler Sergiy Shatenko and their encounter prolonged to one hour in local badminton arena of Ottawa. Both contenders challenged each other throughout the three sets and finished this match with a nerve-racking result of 23-21,
17-21 and 21-18.
Howard Shu laid foundation of his victory by winning the opening game and then served notice of supremacy by claiming the final match point.
On the other hand, Sergiy failed to relish benefits of home ground and crowd as he could rise only in the second set.
The American campaigner took off in perfect manner and ruled the court in the beginning of first set. He did not lose focus and doubled his total in no time. However, few fatal mistakes weakened his grip just before the interval.
After the one-minute break, Howard Shu faced great resistance from the Canadian player. Both contenders remained head-to-head all the way to game point situation. They pushed each other in all areas of court and finally this cliff-hanging set ended when
Howard Shu registered a concluding figure of 23-21.
The second set of match was dominated by the Canadian shuttler as he displayed a transformed character and trounced his higher ranked opponent. This time Sergiy did not allow his competitor to gain an immediate advantage.
He matched his rival’s skills in all areas of the game and remained equal on the points table. At the half time, Sergiy was slightly ahead of Howard Shu but he widened the gap immediately after the break.
He kept on moving forward at top gear and wrapped this game with a favourable score position of 21-17. With this win, he marched into third set in high spirit and the local badminton lovers were expecting him to claim this final match point.
However, third set did not bring anything for Sergiy as the opposing shuttler struck hard and locked the honour with an impressive result of 21-18. Now Howard Shu will meet Joachim Persson of Denmark in the semi-final round.
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