London Olympics 2012: Lee Hyun Il storms into Men’s Singles semi-final – Badminton news
Korea’s experienced player Lee Hyun Il showed a stunning performance and stormed into Men’s Singles semi-final after giving a shocking treatment to his higher ranked rival Chen Jin of China in the quarter-final showdown at the London Olympics 2012 on Thursday,
August 2, in London.
The seventh seeded Lee Hyun, who is World Number 10 in Men’s Singles category, showed his elite skills on court and he played planned badminton to chuck out the former World Champion Jin in a spectacular manner.
The lower ranked Lee Hyun was composed on court and he played positive and aggressive badminton which helped him to overpower the talented Chinese shuttler in straight games with a comfortable margin on the board.
The World Number Four Jin, on the other hand, failed to show his craft as he could not earn easy points from his experienced Korean opponent and eventually crashed out at the quarter-final stage without taking any game away from his rival.
The score remained close in the opening half of first game when both shuttlers played long and positive rallies and remained toe-to-toe until the mid-game interval.
After the break, the Chinese shuttler tried to play attacking badminton but failed to destroy the defence of his challenger who was quite comfortable in his movement in all areas of the court.
In the meanwhile, Lee Hyun played with variations in his strokes and eventually snatched the first game with a comfortable 21-15 score on the board.
In the second game, both shuttlers again showed their aggressive skills and remained neck-to-neck in the opening half.
Until the one-minute break in the second game, no one could take a strong position as the score was tight on the board.
After the interval, Lee Hyun showed his brilliance by playing positive badminton as he took the bird early and created pressure on his opponent by working well at net.
The positive and planned play of Lee Hyun assisted him to end up the second game with a wonderful margin of 21-16.
The in-form Lee Hyun emerged as the winner in this quarter-final battle in straight sets with a convincing 21-15 and 21-16 score on the board.
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