Malaysia International Challenge: Xiaoyu Liang topples Rina Andriani in Women’s Singles round-of-16
Singapore’s talented shuttler Xiaoyu Liang continued her positive and winning run and secured her berth in Women’s Singles quarter-final after defeating Indonesia’s Rina Andriani in round-of-16 battle at Maybank Malaysia International Challenge 2012 on Thursday,
November 15, in Malaysia.
The higher ranked Liang, who is the seventh seed in the tournament, played with remarkable precision and managed to overpower her Indonesian challenger in just 29 minutes.
Singaporean player showed a wonderful aggression in the arena when she played to her maximum speed and finished up the battle in a striking fashion in straight games with a commanding margin.
On the other hand, the lower ranked Indonesian shuttler failed to show her elevated craft on court as she could not create gaps in her rival’s court and eventually lost the battle without making her presence felt.
The aggressive Liang delivered worked really hard to get advantage in the opening points of first game but she failed to manage it as her Indonesian opponent also played positive badminton.
The tempo of the rallies was very fast and it was Andriani who played superbly and managed to set up a wonderful lead of 10-6 until the end of opening half.
After the one-minute break, the higher ranked Liang accelerated her speed and tried her best to stop the progress of her in-form rival who reached at 14-12.
At this stage, Liang showed a stunning performance as she took over the control of rallies and managed to secure nine consecutive points to grab the set with a margin of 21-14.
In the second game, the seventh seeded Liang did not let her rival to take charge of rallies this time as she played attacking badminton and stayed ahead until the end of opening half.
After the one-minute break, the impressive Liang remained fully focused and she did not drop the pace of rallies all the way to wind up the set with a comfortable margin of 21-15.
The in-form Liang emerged as the winner in this Women’s Singles round-of-16 clash in a staggering fashion as she consumed just 29 minutes to finish up the battle with a 21-14 and 21-15 score on the board.
Tags: