Indonesia Open 2012: He Hanbin, Bao Yixin raise China’s chances in Mixed Doubles event
China’s Mixed Double team He Hanbin-Bao Yixin doubled the celebration as they surged into pre quarter-finals of the Djarum Indonesia Open after beating Shintaro Ikeda-Reiko Shiota in first round on June 13, 2012.
Both teams remained head-to-head for 46 minutes before registering the concluding margin of 16-21, 21-9 and 11-21.
The victorious Chinese couple will now face Xu Chen-Ma Jin and they will surely have to live up to their billing against higher ranked compatriots.
World Number 13 pair started the ball rolling by clinching very first match point in their opening match at Istora Senayan Stadium of Jakarta.
He Hanbin and Bao Yixin showed perfect coordination and pushed their opponents in all areas of court. They established a decent lead with 8-5 total and then maintained this slight edge until half time with 11-9 score on the board.
After mid-game break, they picked up some pace and swiftly registered a respectable figure of 16-12 which ultimately helped them to keep the opposing team at lower end.
First set of the match got concluded when Chinese pair stamped their supremacy with 21-16 margin.
However, next game changed the story dramatically as the losing contenders of previous segment completely outclassed their superior rivals in all departments of game.
This time the Japanese came out with better technical and tactical strategy and saved their honour.
The twosome of Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota set the foundation of their supremacy by clinching five points immediately and then strengthened their grip by taking it to 11-4 until the interval.
Later part of the game saw the duo employing unusual tactics as many times they pushed the opposing team on the back-foot with some power packed strokes and then deceived them with dropping net shots.
They bagged six out of last seven points and won second set by putting a winning total of 21-9.
Unexpectedly, there was not much action in the decider as it proved flat competition after couple of initial rallies.
Both contenders stayed toe-to-toe until 7-7 but then Bao Yixin and He Hanbin forged a fruitful chemistry and swept the table with significant difference in 21-11.
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