Lok Yan Poon defeats Sannatasah Saniru to advance into main round of Malaysia Open GP Gold 2011
Hong Kong’s Lok Yan Poon has booked her place into the Women’s Singles main round after beating Sannatasah Saniru of Malaysia in the qualifying round of the Malaysia Open GP Gold 2011, in Malaysia on Tuesday, May 3.
Lok Yan had to work extra hard to beat Saniru in a superb three-set match.
In the first set, Lok Yan delivered a stunning performance by playing top class badminton against the Malaysian, who remained miles behind the opponent. The Hong Kong shuttler started the opening match in a wonderful fashion and established a remarkable
difference of 11-5, in the first half of the set.
The Malaysian accelerated her pace to tackle the aggressive run of the opponent, but failed to control the bird and made many errors. Lok Yan stretched the difference by playing positively and clinched the opening set with a wonderful margin of 21-12, by
consuming only 14 minutes in the court.
Stung by the loss of the first set, Saniru played a superb game in the second set by eliminating her mistakes. She remained composed in the first part of the set, where she managed a good lead of 11-7. Lok Yan made many unforced errors in the opening half
and lost her focus in the game.
After the break, Saniru continued her winning run in the second set by playing at the highest speed. She picked the bird quite early from all corners of the court and kept the opponent under pressure. Lok Yan failed to break the flow of the Malaysian and
lost the second set in just 16 minutes by a big margin of 14-21.
In the final set of this thrilling match, Lok Yan changed her tactics and established a comfortable lead of 11-5 in the opening part. She was relying on the net strokes together with powerful smashes on the side lines of the opponent.
After the one-minute rest, the Malaysian worked really hard to break the flow of the opponent, but failed as Lok Yan was playing positive badminton. She maintained the difference throughout the set and won it in just 15 minutes by a 21-12 margin. The finishing
score of this 45-minute three-set fight was, 21-11, 14-21 and 21-12.
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