Kugo Asumi, Megumi Yokoyama make way in top four teams of 2012 Singapore International Series
The lower ranked but spirited Women’s Doubles team of Kugo Asumi-Megumi Yokoyama proved their guts against Mei Kuan Chow-Meng Yean Lee and ensured their presence in the semi-finals of Li-Ning Singapore International Series on August 16, 2012.
This quarter-final battle kept both teams busy for 58 minutes before ending with concluding figures of 21-15, 12-21 and 21-16.
The female Japanese shuttlers, who were underdog earlier in this event, performed beyond expectations and served notice of their supremacy in the opening and closing sets.
Meanwhile, Mei Kuan and Meng Yean lost this crucial tussle despite having a psychological edge. They could rise only in the second set of the match.
In first set, Kugo Asumi and Megumi Yokoyama launched a brisk attack and did not give their challengers enough time to get settled.
They laid the foundation of their dominance by prevailing in few nonstop rallies. They doubled the impact with a couple of successive points just before the interval.
After mid-game break, they unleashed a flurry of power packed strokes and confined their rivals to the rear of the court.
The Malaysian campaigners, who were placed at third spot in tournament ranking, made every effort to come out of this deficit but they had to give up this futile chase after scoreboard flashed final margin of 21-15.
However, Mei Kuan and Meng Yean did not remain at the lower end permanently as they managed to rise on their toes in very next game and brought the contest to the right balance.
This time they did not repeat previous mistakes and gained an immediate advantage with a series of masterly crafted strokes.
They mounted pressure by registering an indomitable total of 11 before the mid-game break and then capitalised this lead in later part of the game. They swept the table with an overwhelming score of 21-12.
The decider became consequential after this revised status and both teams strived hard to fetch the final match point.
They remained close until the first half but then Kugo-Megumi tipped the scale in their favour with a staggering knock of 21-16.
This win ensured their spot in second last round of the International Series where they will compete against another higher ranked pair Mingtian Fu-Aiying Xing.
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