Korea Open Premier Super Series: Rajiv Ouseph stuns Taufik Hidayat in Men’s Singles first round
England’s Rajiv Ouseph has proved that he can beat any shuttler in the world on a given day as he has stunned Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat in the men’s Singles first round of the 2012 Korea Open Premier Super Series, at Seoul, Korea, on Wednesday, January 4.
The World Number 24 Ouseph, who has been struggling hard to find a good flow for the last six months, has delivered remarkable performance as he has ousted the former Olympic and World Champion, Taufik, who is currently World Number Nine.
The English shuttler played flawless badminton throughout the match and ended it in straight games by taking just 35 minutes in the court. Taufik could not resist against his English challenger and lost the fight without winning even a single set.
The first set of the match was entertaining when both men played good badminton and Ouseph remained successful in winning it with a tight score. In the following set, the Indonesian failed to put up strong resistance and lost the game without playing impressive badminton.
Ouseph opened his campaign in the first set in an impressive way as he set up a reasonable lead in the opening points. Taufik tried to take the bird early but failed as his opponent was playing with wonderful aggression. Until the break in the opening half, Ouseph established a comfortable difference of 11-5.
After the break, Ouseph remained positive and avoided mistakes to maintain his pressure on his higher ranked opponent. Taufik tried to level the score and drew near but failed to break the flow of his rival. The English shuttler finished the set with a close margin of 21-19.
In the second set, the Indonesian played well and remained close to his lower ranked challenger until the score reached at 9-9. At this stage, Ouseph geared up his speed and started to build lead by remaining positive in the game.
The planned and positive play of Ouseph helped him to end up the second set with a margin of 21-15. The overall result of this 35-minute Men’s Singles first round contest was 21-19 and 21-15.
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