Joe Wu tames Alistair Casey to clutch Men’s Singles title in Carebaco International Championships
New Zealand’s Joe Wu did not lose his touch in the final round of Carebaco International Championships and earned the Men’s Singles title on Sunday, August 26, 2012.
The lower ranked but talented Joe outclassed Alistair Casey by registering decisive figures of 21-19 and 21-15 in just two sets.
This title match-up, held at Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, lasted for 41 minutes and both shuttlers kept the audience intact with their mesmerising show of top quality badminton skills.
Though, second seeded shuttler Alistair put a laudable effort but luck was not on his side and he had to face a straight-set defeat.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand campaigner did not show any sign of bewilderment in front of a superior contender and proved his class by prevailing in both sets.
Joe, who was an underdog earlier in this tournament, started the ball rolling by gaining an early advantage in the opening game.
He employed all of his brilliance and confounded the opposing shuttler with a series of well placed strokes.
In the first half, he established his grip by grabbing a few uninterrupted points and then doubled the impact with a couple of productive rallies before the interval.
Later part of the game brought life back into the contest as Alistair showed his class and counter-balanced the situation.
The Scottish campaigner employed unusual tactics as at first he pushed Joe on the back-foot with a flurry of power packed smashes and then earned valuable points with drop net shots.
Both shuttlers remained toe-to-toe until game point situation and this competitive match-up ended when Joe added final two points in 21-19 total.
This timely win boosted his confidence and he started second set with a psychological advantage. He capitalised his upper hand and established a comfortable lead immediately in the beginning.
Though, the New Zealand player lost focus for a short span of time but still he did not let control slip from his hands.
Joe reinstated his authority by employing unbeatable tactics and managed to put respectable figure of 11 at half time. He did not lose this tempo after the interval and tipped the scale in his favour with 21-15 margin.
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