Malaysia Open Super Series: Sho Sasaki topples Pablo Abian to secure his berth in quarter-final
Japan’s Sho Sasaki, who is in his prime form at the moment, has secured his place in Men’s Singles quarter-final after toppling Pablo Abian of Spain in the round-of-16 of Malaysia Open Super Series 2012 on Thursday, January 12, in Malaysia.
Japan’s top seed and World Number Six Sasaki showed his higher class while playing against Abian and bagged the match without losing even a single set. He was in complete control of the game and took just 36 minutes to oust the Spanish in a straight-set
fight.
Sasaki was everywhere in the court in opening set and clinched it without facing strong opposition. In the following game, Abian played a little better game but not enough to stop his Japanese rival to win the set. Sasaki took the second game with a decent
margin on the score board.
In the opening set, both shuttlers played at the same speed until 3-3 when Japanese shuttler lifted up his level and started to create gap. The number six seed Sasaki played to his maximum potential and remained successful in creating a remarkable gap of
11-7 until the interval.
After the break, Sasaki continued his positive run and stretched his lead. On the other hand, Abian could not play positive badminton and also failed to place his shots in the right areas. The higher ranked Sasaki ended the opening game with an impressive
score of 21-14.
In the second set of this match, Abian matched the speed of Sasaki in opening rallies and remained close until 6-6 when the Japanese managed to take a comfortable lead of 11-7 until the break.
After the interval, Abian accelerated his speed and found the gaps in his opponent’s court. He remained positive and levelled the score by reaching 14-14. At this stage, Sasaki again took over the control and raced to finish the second set with a margin
of 21-17.
This Men’s Singles round-of-16 battle ended in 36 minutes with a 21-14 and 21-17 score on the board.
In the quarter-final showdown, Sasaki will be up against Chen Long of China, who is the third seed in the main draw of Malaysia Open.
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