Iztok Utrosa ensures his presence in Men’s Singles quarter-finals - Slovak Open Update
Men’s Singles campaigner Iztok Utrosa of Slovenia proved his worth in the pre quarter-finals of the Victor Slovak Open as he overpowered Daniel Grassmueck on September 7, 2012.
However, it was not easy road to victory as he had to consume his energies for 49 minutes to read a favourable result of 15-21, 21-13 and 21-13.
This win took him into the round of eight of this Future Series where he will be testing his skills against the French shuttler Maxime Michel.
Iztok is expected to have a smooth run as he has registered his class by remaining invincible in preliminary stages of the event.
In the second round match, he alarmed all the contestants by sealing an impressive 2-1 victory over the Austrian player.
Though, Daniel had a perfect start but he failed to continue with the same flow and bid farewell to the tournament.
He mounted pressure by pocketing the first match point with a notable difference in the final margin. He played with an authoritative approach from the beginning to the ending.
Meanwhile, the higher ranked Slovenian shuttler could not read his challenger’s strategy and surrendered after reading 15-21 score on the board.
However, Iztok made amends in very next game as he showed strong character even after the first set loss.
This time he changed his plan of action and launched a brisk attack to gain an early advantage. He capitalised this initial lead in next couple of rallies and cornered his competitor by gathering some consecutive points.
At mid-game break, Iztok strengthened his grip by putting a mountainous total of 11 and entered the second half with a psychological edge.
The later part of the game proved a dead contest as Daniel hardly put any resistance and knelt down tamely with a 13-21 margin.
Third set became consequential with this revised match score position as both contenders were looking to fetch the final match point.
They stood toe-to-toe in the opening rallies but then Iztok gathered some pace and left his opponent far behind.
He maintained this rhythm and pocketed valuable points in a row. This laudable effort paid off and he cruised to victory with an overwhelming figure of 21-13.
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