London Olympics: Shintaro Ikeda, Reiko Shiota topple Toby Ng, Grace Gao in group match
Japan’s Mixed Doubles experts Shintaro Ikeda-Reiko Shiota finally started their successful run in London Olympics as they overpowered Toby Ng-Grace Gao in a group match at Wembley Arena on July 29, 2012.
However, it was not a smooth road to victory as they had to go all the way to three gruelling sets to read a favourable result of 21-10, 11-21 and 21-15 in this Group B match.
Earlier, World Number 11 pair put themselves in great trouble after losing to Polish duo Robert Mateusiak-Nadiezda Zieba but this time they played with great precision and claimed a 2-1 victory.
The twosome of Shintaro and Reiko took off in perfect manner as they clinched first match point with a significant lead of eleven points in final margin.
They initiated their campaign by dominating in four back-to-back rallies after 4-2 and maintained this rhythm all the way to mid-game break.
They did not give their rivals any counter-attack opportunity and finished first half with eleven points on the scoreboard.
Later part of the game also belonged to Japanese pair as who did not commit even a single mistake while piling up an overwhelming margin of 21-10.
The second set was replay of previous one but in reverse manner as the Canadian campaigners stormed back and successfully avoided a straight-set defeat.
Toby Ng and Grace Gao showed strong character despite a severe blow in the first set. They established their grip over the game by snatching four uninterrupted points in the beginning and then doubled the impact with 7-3 total.
They did not lose this pace and entered the second half as leading contenders by putting an indomitable figure of 11-5.
The Japanese strived hard to come out of this deficit but they could not hit the mark until concluding margin of 11-21.
However, this was a temporary downfall as Shintaro and Reiko managed to rise on their toes in the decider and seized a splendid win.
They made difference with four fruitful rallies after 3-3 and then left their competitors far behind before half time.
They managed to go with the same flow until game point situation and swept the table with a staggering knock of 21-15.
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