India Open Grand Prix Gold: Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato clinch Men’s Doubles crown
Japan’s Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato have clinched Men’s Doubles crown after beating Indonesia’s Andrei Adistia and Christopher Rusdianto in the final battle of the 2011 Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix, in Lucknow, India, on Sunday, December 25.
The World Number 11 Kawamae and Sato, who were ranked at the top in the Men’s Doubles draw of India Open, had to work really hard to beat their un-seeded Indonesian opponents and won the fight in three games with a narrow margin. Adistia and Rusdianto remained
unlucky in the third set as they lost it with a tight difference.
The top seeds played positive badminton in the opening set and took advantage by winning it with a reasonable score on the board. In the second game, the Indonesians played aggressive game and ended the set with a remarkable difference. However, in the deciding
game, the Japanese duo remained lucky as they won the set with tight margin.
Both sides played powerful game in the opening half of the first set and remained equal by reaching at 10-10. However, Kawamae and Sato managed to play positive badminton and also built pressure on their lower ranked opponents in the second half of the set.
They won the first game with a reasonable score of 21-17.
In the second game, the Indonesians came in the court with an aggressive mood and pushed their rivals on the back foot. They did not let the Japanese pair to level the score even for a single time throughout the second game.
The incredible power-play of Indonesians destroyed the defence of their Japanese challengers. Kawamae and Sato could not put up tough resistance in the second set and lost it with a huge 12-21 margin on the score board.
In the final set, both pairs played positive badminton and remained close throughout the game. Both sides failed to occupy driving seat until the concluding phase as the score reached at 21-21.
At this heart-throbbing stage, the Japanese shuttlers played mature game and managed to score two consecutive points and ended the set with a tight 23-21 score on the board. They won the title match in 54 minutes by a margin of 21-17, 12-21 and 23-21.
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