India Open: Muhammad Hafiz Hashim narrowly defeats Kazushi Yamada in Men’s Singles first round
Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim found a threatening start at the India Open Super Series as he had to work extra hard to beat Japan’s Kazushi Yamada in Men’s Singles first round on Wednesday, April 25, in India.
The World Number 39 Hafiz played to his maximum potential against Yamada and emerged as the winner of the contest with a narrow margin.
The Malaysian veteran put everything he had in his possession to win the fight and remained successful in beating his Japanese rival in three games by taking 62 minutes in the court.
In the opening set, both men played remarkable badminton by executing impressive attacking shots and remained close until the 60-second interval in opening set.
After the break, Yamada became quicker and took a reasonable lead but failed to maintain it as his Malaysian opponent played better game and levelled the score by reaching at 20-20.
At this stage, both players showed aggression in the court and reached at 24-24 when Hafiz played slightly better game and took the set with a margin of 26-24.
In the second set, Yamada played on a different level as he played with precision and managed to take advantage of impressive lead of 11-4 until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Hafiz tried to play aggressive badminton but failed to bridge the gap as his opponent was miles ahead on the board.
Hafiz lost the second game easily with a one-sided margin of 14-21.
In the deciding game, both men played tremendous game in the opening rallies and reached at 6-6 when Hafiz took over the control and reached at 11-8 until the break.
After the interval, Hafiz continued his impressive play in the game as he maintained his upper hand in the set. He did not let Yamada to take charge at any stage in the entire deciding game.
Hafiz remained in full control and ended the final set with a superb 21-13 score on the board.
The Malaysian shuttler won this Men’s Singles opening-round contest in 62 minutes with a thrilling 26-24, 14-21 and 21-13 margin on the score board.
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