Ivan Sozonov powers his way to Men’s Singles pre quarter-finals – US Open Update
The second day of Yonex OCBC US Open GPG turned in to a day of double joy for Ivan Sozonov of Russia as he bagged two consecutive victories to secure a spot in the pre quarter-finals on July 3, 2012.
Men’s Singles expert Ivan outshined local shuttler Howard Shu in opening match before stamping Carl Christian Hem of Norway in second round of the event.
Now he will be up against talented Malaysian campaigner Chun Seang Tan to make into quarter-finals of this Grand Prix Gold tournament.
The Russian contender opened his marathon against US shuttler Howard Shu and alarmed all the contestants by sealing a splendid 2-1 win in 46 minutes.
He passed this tough test with distinctive figures of 11-21, 21-18 and 21-17 after three gruelling sets.
In the opening game, he could not understand the gaming technique of his opponent and lost a vital match point.
Ivan got down straight away in the beginning and could not rise all the way until the last moment.
First sign of trouble came when the opposing shuttler made swift progress to a 7-3 margin.
Howard Shu looked in prime touch as he did not give his rival even a single opportunity to bounce back and placed a mountainous total of 11-6 before the interval.
After mid-game break, the native mounted pressure with 15-8 and then magnified the impact by registering decisive margin of 21-11.
However, Ivan did not allow him to make the best out of this initial lead and levelled the match score in very next game.
This time he played with great precision and gained a decent three-point advantage before half time. He did not squander his efforts in later part of the game and finished second set with 21-18 score.
The Russian challenger continued with this top form and his raised hands as Champion after putting 21-17 margin in the decider.
This win pit Ivan against Carl Christian and he utilised his valuable experience from the first round in this crucial match.
He laid foundation of his victory in opening game when he outclassed Carl with a convincing knock of 21-11.
Next game also proved to be a one-sided affair and Ivan Sozonov marched into next round by putting concluding figure of 21-10.
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