Lee Hyun Il narrowly beats Arvind Bhat in Men’s Singles second round of German Open Grand Prix Gold
Korea’s ace shuttler Lee Hyun Il struggled really hard in winning his fight against the in-form Arvind Bhat of India in the Men’s Singles second round of the German Open Grand Prix Gold on Wednesday, February 29, in Germany.
Lee Hyun, who is World Number Seven and fourth seed in Men’s Singles draw of the tournament, was severely tested by his Indian opponent in a thrilling fight that ended in three games.
The Korean managed to chuck out Arvind in three sets by working hard for 58 minutes in the court.
Both men showed their impressive skills by playing aggressive and positive badminton. They remained close in the opening few rallies by matching the pace of rallies. However, Arvind managed an 11-8 lead until the break.
After the break, the Indian stretched his lead by remaining positive and reached at 16-11. At this stage, Lee Hyun geared up his speed and injected power in his strokes and levelled the score at 16-16.
The Korean remained on track and managed to win the first game with a tight 21-19 score on the board.
In the second set, Arvind again showed his brilliance as he played attacking badminton and remained ahead of his higher ranked opponent by reaching at 11-9 until the break.
After the interval, Arvind continued playing aggressive game and stretched his lead. However, Lee Hyun became quicker at net and managed to level the score at 16-16.
At this stage, Lee Hyun lost his focus as he failed to control the pace of rallies and lost the set with a narrow margin of 19-21.
In the final set, both shuttlers snapped each other’s heel in the opening rallies and reached at 7-7. At this stage, the Korean employed his experience and managed a reasonable lead of 11-8 until the 60-second break.
After the interval, Lee Hyun remained on track as he did not spare any chance for his rival to level the score. He was quite focused in the game and took it with a comfortable difference of 21-15.
The Korean won this Men’s Singles rubber-set fight with a 21-19, 19-21 and 21-15 score on the board.
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