Mizuki Fujii, Reika Kakiiwa march into Women’s Doubles final of 2012 London Olympics
Women’s Doubles experts Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa escorted Japan to the final round of London Olympics after beating Alex Bruce-Michelle Li at Wembley Arena on August 2, 2012.
This semi-final showdown kept both teams on court for three gruelling sets before ending with final figures of 21-12, 19-21 and 21-13.
World Number five duo stamped their supremacy over unseeded Canadian pair in opening and closing parts of the battle.
They started the ball rolling in the beginning of first set when they prevailed in a couple of rallies without any interruption.
The Japanese shuttlers capitalised this initial advantage and doubled the lead way before half time. They mounted pressure by putting an indomitable total of 11 at mid-game break.
After the interval, Mizuki and Reika kept on stepping forward at top gear and left their competitors far behind with a decent lead in third quarter of the set.
They maintained this rhythm in final stage of the game and clinched first match point with an overwhelming margin of 21-12.
The Canadian campaigners switched on their best after slipping one down and counter-balanced the situation by winning very next set.
This time they employed an improvised strategy which yielded positive result. They moved forward carefully in the beginning but then surpassed their challengers with a giant leap in later part of the game.
Alex and Michelle, who got chance to play semi-finals after disqualification of four other pairs, justified their place with a laudable effort in this crucial set.
They managed to stay close to their high ranked opponents in first half and then made difference with couple of continuous points after the interval. They finished second set with a favourable result of 21-19.
This development locked both contenders in tough situation and the decider turned into survival of the fittest war.
However, third set proved one-sided affair to some extent as the Japanese couple thundered in second half and claimed the honour.
Mizuki and Reika gained slight edge before the interval and then magnified the impact by registering convincing figure of 21-13.
Now they are scheduled to meet Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei in title match of the mega event.
Tags: