Indonesia Open: Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam secure Mixed Doubles title
Thailand’s impressive shuttlers Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam proved their mettle and secured Mixed Doubles title after beating their higher ranked opponents Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir at the final battle of Indonesia Open Premier Super
Series 2012 in Jakarta, on Sunday, June 17.
The lower ranked Sudket and Saralee, who are currently World Number 9 in Mixed Doubles world ranking, put up tremendous show of quality badminton and overpowered the World Number 3 pair of Tontowi and Liliyana in a thrilling fight.
The un-seeded were aggressive and composed in the court and they overpowered the home favourites in a sensational three-set fight by working to their maximum potential.
On the other hand, Tontowi and Liliyana lost the opening game but fought back in the second set. However, they could not stop the progress of their lower ranked Thai opponents in the deciding game and lost the match.
In the opening game, both couples played composed badminton in the opening few points but Sudket and Saralee took over the control by gearing up their speed at net and took a reasonable lead until the break.
After the interval, the higher ranked Indonesians tried their best to stop the progressive run of their Thai opponents but failed to play dominating badminton.
The un-seeded Sudket and Saralee remained on track and took the game with a decent 21-17 margin on the score board.
In the second game, Tontowi and Liliyana played with precision and managed to remain close to their rivals until the score reached at 12-12.
On the other hand, Sudket and Saralee could not play controlled game at this stage as they committed a few unforced errors and lost the set with four-point deficit of 17-21.
In the deciding game, Sudket and Saralee showed their class when they took an early lead and maintained it until the break.
After the interval, the lower ranked Thai shuttlers continued putting up superb show and did not lose their focus at any stage. They were positive in the court and eventually grabbed the game in a sensational manner with a tremendous score of 21-13.
Sudket and Saralee won the title after ending up the final battle in three games with a 21-17, 17-21 and 21-13 score on the board.
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