Indonesia Open: Brice Leverdez narrowly beats Zi Liang Derek Wong in Men’s Singles qualifying round
France’s Brice Leverdez found a tough resistance in his first battle as he narrowly overpowered Singapore’s Zi Liang Derek Wong in Men’s Singles qualifying round at Indonesia Open Premier Super Series 2012 on Tuesday, June 12, at Jakarta, Indonesia.
The higher ranked Leverdez, who is the second seed in Men’s Singles qualifying round draw, had to dig into his reserves to chuck out Zi Liang in a thrilling rubber-set fight.
The French took the opening game with a tight margin but lost the second set with a comfortable difference. However, he put in extra effort in the final game and won the fight in 49 minutes.
Zi Liang, on the other hand, showed his aggression but remained unlucky in taking the first game. However, he found his rhythm back in the second game and took it with an impressive margin.
The Singaporean lost his focus in the final set and lost the match with a reasonable difference on the board.
The match started in a fabulous manner as both men showed their impressive craft. However, it was the Singaporean who dominated the pace of rallies and managed a small lead until the mid-game interval.
After the break, the French accelerated his speed and played attacking badminton. The score remained close until the ending points when Leverdez showed his class and won the set with a close score of 21-19.
In the second game, it was Zi Liang who did not spare any chance for his higher ranked French opponent to take control of rallies.
Leverdez try to set up lead by controlling the pace of rallies but failed to create gaps in his rival’s court and lost the set with a 16-21 score on the board.
In the decider, Leverdez became furious as he played to his maximum speed and did not spare any chance to execute powerful smashes and eventually bagged the game with a tremendous margin of 21-14.
The higher ranked Leverdez emerged as the winner against Zi Liang in this Men’s Singles qualifying round clash in 49 minutes with a convincing 21-19, 16-21 and 21-14 score on the board.
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