Indonesia Open 2012: Arif Latif stands one step away from Men’s Singles main round
Men’s Singles expert Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif of Malaysia raised his chances of main round entry in Djarum Indonesia Open as he stamped Suppanyu Avihingsanon in qualifying round on June 12, 2012.
World Number 57 shuttler Arif, who has been undergoing a bad patch, had to swing his arms for 54 minutes to enter final figures of 21-14, 17-21 and 21-14.
Now his next challenger will be the Indian campaigner Sourabh Varma whom he has defeated in previous meeting of 2011 Badminton Asia Championships.
Earlier in his opening match, the Malaysian player had mixed experience as he established an immediate lead in start, lost his grip in the middle and then served the notice of supremacy in final segment of the show.
The first set of match saw him taking time to get on track but he never stopped after getting a desired start.
Arif gathered few quick points and reached at decent position of 6 but he lost the rhythm in first half which reduced his lead to 11-10 before mid-game break.
However, he did not repeat this mistake in later part of the set and made difference with four consecutive rallies which took him to authoritative position of 16-12. This lead helped him to bag first set by registering a favourable margin of 21-14 on the
board.
Next game changed the scenario as the Thai shuttler stormed back and did not allow his competitor to wrap the show in just two games.
World Number 54 Suppanyu Avihingsanon made his intentions clear straight away in the beginning by putting a decent total of 11-7 in first half.
Though, the Malaysian accelerated the pace in third quarter of set and caught his opponent at 13-13 but still it was not enough to stop Suppanyu from winning second set with a respectable total of 21-17.
The decider filled the contest with sensation as both contenders remained locked until mid-game break.
In the beginning, the Thai campaigner gained a considerable lead by gathering six back-to-back points but his supremacy was short lived as Arif stormed back and blew him away with decisive margin of 21-14.
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