Malaysia Open Super Series 2012: Nguyen Tien Minh finds a perfect start – Badminton news
Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh found a perfect start as he ousted China’s Wang Zhengming in the Men’s Singles first round of the 2012 Malaysia Open Super Series at National Sports Complex, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday, January 11.
World Number Eight Tien Minh, who is also eighth seed in the Men’s Singles main draw, played with aggression and proved is supremacy over his Chinese opponent. He employed everything he had to chuck out his rival in a thrilling rubber-set match by taking 61 minutes in the court.
Zhengming, who has been struggling hard to get rid of his bad patch for the last few months, again failed to deliver good performance and crashed out in the opening round of the tournament.
The Chinese shuttler won the opening set against the higher ranked Vietnamese opponent but lost the remaining both games without putting up good show.
Tien Minh came in the court in a spirited way but he failed to dominate the rallies as his challenger was playing fast and positive badminton. He remained close to Zhengming in the opening half of the game but could not dominate the rallies in the concluding part.
The Chinese shuttler did no slow his speed and kept the pace of rallies high. Tien Minh tried to play will aggression but executed many negative strokes and eventually lost the opening game with a reasonable 18-21 score on the board.
Nevertheless, Tien Minh came back strongly in the second game as he maintained pressure on his Chinese rival by playing flawless badminton. His powerful smashes coupled with deceptive drop shots disturbed the tempo of his opponent and remained successful in taking the game with a comfortable difference of 21-15.
In the decider, both shuttlers employed their attacking skills to create gap but no one could establish lead as they remained to-to-toe until the end of opening half. After the break, Tien Minh managed to earn points by executing powerful jumping smashes and ended the set with a margin of 21-15.
The Vietnamese ended this battle in three games with an 18-21, 21-15 and 21-15 score on the board.
In the second round of the tournament, Tien Minh will take on Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat, who is former Olympic and World Champion and current World Number Nine.
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