Malaysia Open: Sony Dwi Kuncoro stuns Nguyen Tien Minh in men’s Singles round-of-16
After suffering with a series of injuries for a prolonged time of almost one year, Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro finally got his rhythm back when he toppled the higher ranked Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam in Men’s Singles round-of-16 at the Malaysia Open GP
Gold in Malaysia, on Thursday, May 3.
The un-seeded Kuncoro showed glimpses of his brilliance while playing against the second seeded Tien minh, who is currently World Number 11 in the world.
The lower ranked Indonesian showed no sign of slowing down the pace in the whole match indicating that he is perfectly fit and has no more injury now.
Sony was in commanding position against his higher ranked challenger in the whole contest and ended it easily in straight games by taking 45 minutes in the court.
On the other hand, Tien Minh was down as he could not play his normal game against the spirited Indonesian and crashed out without showing his impressive craft.
In the first game, Tien Minh played tremendous badminton in the opening half and took an early lead.
Nevertheless, Sony geared up his speed in all areas and played flawless badminton to level the score at 8-8.
Until the break, both shuttlers were close as no one could create a comfortable gap on the board.
After the break, they continued putting up wonderful show while keeping the pace at the maximum level and reached at 16-16.
At this stage Sony showed his class and grabbed the remaining points to take the set with a margin of 21-16.
In the second game, both men again played thrilling badminton while progressing closely on the board and it was Tien Minh who took a small lead of 11-9 until the break.
After the interval, Sony changed his strategy and kept Tien Minh away from net area. He remained successful in his plan and managed to remain close until 16-16.
At this stage, the Indonesian found a perfect flow and scored five consecutive points to bag the set with a 21-16 score on the board.
Sony won this contest in two games of 45 minutes with an impressive 21-16 and 21-16 margin on the board.
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