Lee Hyun Il topples Wang Zhengming in quarter-final of the 2011 Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold
Korea’s Men’s Singles veteran, Lee Hyun Il, has toppled China’s rising start, Wang Zhengming, in the quarter-final of the 2011 Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold. The match was held in Bangkok on June 10, 2011.
The Korean, who is the sixth seed in the Men’s Singles category in the Thailand Open, dug deep into his arsenal to pull out superb tactics to win the 47-minute rubber-set fight against the tenth seed, Zhengming.
Lee Hyun, who is currently the World Number 14, opened the game in a shaky manner as he missed many points by hitting the bird into the net or wide of the side lines of his opponent’s court. He was struggling to get a good control over the pace of the rallies,
but failed as his rival was playing with incredible variations in his strokes.
Throughout the opening game, the Korean remained behind the Chinese, who was perfectly executing the spinning net strokes. Lee Hyun lost the first game in 20 minutes with a three-point deficit of 18-21.
Down by the loss of the first game, the Korean bounced back in the match by playing aggressive badminton. He spared no chance for the Chinese to attack the bird, as he kept the shuttlecock parallel to the net. Zhengming tried to play spinning net strokes
to find high clears but his opponent did not spare many chances for him to dominate at the net.
Lee Hyun’s strategy worked well in the second game and he levelled the match by grabbing the set in incredible fashion, with a surprising score of 21-9 in just 14 minutes.
In the deciding set, Hyun showed no mercy to the Chinese and continued his winning progress in the match. He made no mistake in the whole set and controlled the pace of the game with great ease. Lee Hyun clinched the third game in 13 minutes with the score
of 21-9. The rubber-set match ended in 47 minutes with the result of 18-21, 21-9 and 21-9.
Lee Hyun will take on Chen Jin of China in the semi-final of the event.
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