India Open: Li Xuerui clinches Women’s Singles title to stretch her winning streak – Badminton news
China’s young shuttler Li Xuerui stretches her winning streak as she grabbed Women’s Singles title at the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series 2012 at New Delhi, India, on Sunday, April 29.
In the title match, Xuerui played tremendous badminton and overpowered an experienced German player Juliane Schenk.
The World Number Four Xuerui, who was the second seed in Women’s Singles draw of India Open, showed her impressive skills throughout the tournament and managed to win it in an amazing three-set contest.
It was the second title for Xuerui in a period of two weeks as she also won the Women’s Singles crown at the Badminton Asia Championships 2012 last week.
In the final of India Open, Xuerui lost the opening game but powered her way back into the match and took the following both sets to bag the title.
On the other hand, Schenk gave a good fight to her aggressive Chinese opponent and also took the first game but failed to play well in the following sets and lost the match in rubber games.
In the first game, Schenk was everywhere in the court as she played with precision and dominate the pace of rallies without facing a strong resistance.
In the meanwhile, Xuerui failed to play positive badminton as she committed unforced mistakes in the opening half and remained trailing until the break.
After the interval, Xuerui tried to play fast game but failed to take a commanding position against the in-form Schenk and lost the set with a 14-21 score on the board.
In the second set, Xuerui found an incredible start when she score eight consecutive points to take an 8-0 lead on the board.
Until the mid-game break, the higher ranked Chinese lady was ahead at 11-4.
After the break, Schenk played well and narrowed the gap but failed to stop Xuerui from winning the second game with a decent margin of 21-17.
In the deciding set, Xuerui continued her elevated performance by keeping the pace of rallies high.
The second seeded Chinese lady made her German opponent work hard for every single point and took an impressive lead until the break.
After the interval, the higher ranked Chinese remained on track as she was in complete commanding position in the court and easily wrapped up the set with a one-sided score of 21-8.
Xuerui grabbed the title by winning the final battle against Schenk with a 14-21, 21-17 and 21-8 margin on the board.
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