Japan’s Shoji Sato-Shizuka Matsuo advance in the qualifying round of Swiss Open GP Gold 2011
Japan’s pair of Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo defeated the team of Josche Zurwonne and Carla Nelte from Germany, in the qualifying round of mixed doubles in the Swiss Open GP Gold 2011, today at Basel, Switzerland. Sato-Shizuka played an impressive game
against the German team and won the match in three games that took 42 minutes of hard labour from both sides involved.
Right from the start of the opening set, the Japanese pair played an attacking game by employing hard to return smashes and tight net strokes. The Germans failed to handle the pace of the bird and remained trailing behind the opponents in the first half
by an 11-8 margin. It was a good fight, as both sides were keeping the pace high, but the Japanese worked well until the interval.
After the one-minute-break, Sato-Shizuka geared up the pace of the game and stretched their lead to 15-10. Zurwonne-Carla tried their best to reduce the gap, but failed as their opponents were playing a flawless game. The Japanese pair won the opening set
with a good margin of 21-16 by spending just 12 minutes on the court.
The second set was a thrilling and tight fight between these two teams. The score progressed with the equal pace from both sides and reached 10-10, as the Germans scored one point and took a slight lead of 11-10. After the interval, both sides remained toe-to-toe
until the score reached at the crucial stage of 20-20. It was the German pair that played well and grabbed the second set by scoring the remaining two points in a row with a tight margin of 22-20, in 16 minutes.
In the deciding set, both teams put up a great show in the opening half of the third set. Shuttlers from both sides were playing an attacking game comprising of powerful smashes, strong pushes and cross net strokes. At the 60-second-interval, the Japanese
team was leading the game by an 11-9 margin.
After the interval, Sato-Shizuka remained on track and stretched their lead by playing a positive game and eventually won the set by a notable margin of 21-15, in 14 minutes. The final score of this 42-minute-match was, 21-16, 20-22 and 21-15.
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