Lee Chong Wei beats Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinal of All England Open Badminton Championship
The World number one Malaysian shuttler, Lee Chong Wei, crushed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, in the men’s singles quarterfinal of the All England Open Badminton Championship 2011, at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham today, March 11, 2011.
The top seed Malaysian, who is the defending champion in this event, took only 30 minutes to chuck out Ponsana, who defeated Simon Santoso of Indonesia in the first round, and Lee Hyun Il of Korea in the second round of the event. In the semi-final, Chong
Wei will meet either Denmark’s Peter Hoeg Gade or Chen Long of China.
The Malaysian was a favourite for this quarterfinal match as he is in great form and playing at his best. Chong Wei started the first set with his usual fast speed and established a quick lead of 7-3. Ponsana, who was the number eight seed in the event,
played well in the start but not enough to dominate the opponent. Till the interval of the first game, the top seed was leading with a three-point-margin of 11-8.
Chong Wei continued his impressive run after the one-minute rest and reached at 18-12. Ponsana was quite helpless against the perfection and accuracy of the Malaysian, who earned numerous points by hitting his usual jump smashes. He took only 17 minutes
to finish the first set by a reasonable difference of 21-15.
The second set was a completely one sided game as the Malaysian remained in the driving seat throughout the entire set. The World number one proved that he belongs to the highest class of the game. Right from the start of the second set, Chong Wei controlled
the rallies and dictated the pace of the game. He pushed the opponent in all corners of the court and spared no chance for Ponsana to fight back in the game.
The Malaysian was leading the set with a clear difference of 11-1, till the break. After the interval, Ponsana tried to come back in the game but completely failed against the incredible Chong Wei. The top seed remained on track and finished the set in just
13 minutes with a 21-7 score on the board. The concluding score of the quarterfinal match was, 21-15 and 21-7.
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