Kenichi Hayakawa, Misaki Matsutomo enter Mixed Doubles quarter-finals – US Open Update
Japan’s Mixed Doubles team Kenichi Hayakawa-Misaki Matsutomo seized a quarter-final seat of the Yonex OCBC US Open GPG after outshining Agusriadi Wijaya Amphie-Beiwen Zhang on July 4, 2012.
However, they did not cruise to victory easily as the opposing team pushed them all the way to three sets before final results of 21-12, 13-21 and 14-21.
World Number 46 Japanese duo exhibited superior finishing skills and survived this battle by dominating in two consecutive sets in the end.
Agusriadi Wijaya and Beiwen Zhang, who belong to USA and Singapore respectively, alarmed their opponents by clinching the very first match point.
Though they stepped forward discreetly in the beginning but after half time they left their challengers far behind with some swift progress.
In first half, Agusriadi-Beiwen gained a decent lead with 6-3 and maintained the upper hand until 11-8 total.
After one-minute break, they injected more intensity in their attack and strengthened their grip with 15-10 score position.
The opposing team of Kenichi-Misaki made every effort to narrow the gap but they could not catch their rivals and surrendered after reading 12-21 margin.
However, they did not remain at the lower end permanently and stood tall in the next game. They launched an effective counter-attack strategy and kept their competitors under control.
Kenichi-Misaki, the third seeded pair in the event, laid a decent foundation for their dominance by bagging valuable points at a steady pace.
They maintained this decent edge all the way to mid-game break and placed a respectable total of 11-7.
Later part of the set saw them accelerating the pace to reach at commanding position of 16-11. They bagged five out of the last seven points and levelled the match score with a disarming knock of 21-13.
After this revised status, the audience was expecting a nerve-racking fight in the decider but their thirst was not filled completely.
The Japanese Mixed Doubles partners forged unbeatable chemistry to oust the opposing team.
They established a comfortable lead with 6-3 and then made the best out of this initial advantage by putting 11-6 margin on the board.
They finished this race with staggering figure of 21-14 and setup a clash with local pair Phillip Chew-Jamie Subandhi in the quarter-final round.
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