Malaysia Open GP Gold 2012: Sai Praneeth B. overwhelms Sukamta Evert to reach into round-of-16
India’s upcoming shuttler Sai Praneeth B. put up superb show as he secured his berth in Men’s Singles round-of-16 after beating Indonesia’s Sukamta Evert in second round contest at Malaysia Open GP Gold 2012 in Malaysia, on Thursday, May 3.
Praneeth has been playing tremendous game for the last few months and has again proved his worth in Malaysia Open.
The Indian played remarkable game against Sukamta and managed to win the match in hard-fought three games by taking 53 minutes in the court.
On the other hand, Sukamta played superb badminton in the first set but failed to maintain his rhythm in the following games and lost the contest with a reasonable score on the board.
In the opening set, Sukamta played aggressive game in the starting rallies and took an early lead.
However, Praneeth geared up his speed and played attacking badminton which helped him to level the score at 7-7.
The Indian lost his focus at this stage and remained trailing behind his Indonesian rival until the one-minute break.
After the interval, Praneeth could not reduce the deficit as he committed many unforced errors and eventually lost the opening set with a 16-21 score on the board.
In the second game, Praneeth was the first to take an early lead but failed to maintain the gap as his opponent played better badminton and levelled the score.
Until the 60-second break, it was the Indonesian who managed a small lead of 11-10 on the board.
After the break, both men continued playing with precision and reached at 16-16 when Praneeth showed his brilliancy by playing smart game and took the set with a 21-19 score on the board.
In the decider, Praneeth played with confidence as he did not miss any chance to take points. However, his rival was also quicker and remained close until the break.
After the interval, the Indonesian was ahead at 13-11 when the Sukamta put up a stunning show of flawless badminton and took 10 straight points to grab the set with a margin of 21-13.
Praneeth won this contest in a thrilling fashion with an interesting 16-21, 21-19 and 21-13 margin on the board.
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