Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif earns a spot in semi-finals of 2012 Bitburger Badminton Open
Malaysia’s spirited shuttler Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif stretched his successful run and secured a semi-final berth in Bitburger Badminton Open Grand Prix Gold on Friday, November 2, 2012.
He unseated Andre Kurniawan Tedjono of Indonesia by registering 21-23, 21-19 and 21-17 score in a 67-minute match.
This quarter-final encounter certainly was one of the best showdowns in this tournament as both contenders made the crowd gasp with a mesmerising show of skills in Saarbrucken, Germany.
The Malaysian campaigner came back from a horrendous start and sealed a splendid win by prevailing in the ending two games.
Meanwhile, Andre Kurniawan could not make the best out of his first set win and bid adieu to this GP Gold event.
In the opening game, the Indonesian shuttler showed elevated craft and gained an early advantage with 11-8 total.
He injected more intensity in his attack after the mid-game break and confined the opposing shuttler in the rear court.
Andre Kurniawan gathered valuable points without any interruption and finished the first set of the match with an impressive margin of 23-21.
However, he could not go with the same flow in the following game as Arif showed a strong character and put his expedition to halt.
This time Arif did not repeat previous mistakes and established an unassailable lead in no time.
He got into commanding position with 5-2 score and then strengthened his grip by gaining a significant advantage of eight points.
At the half time, the Malaysian player was enjoying an upper hand in 11-3 total when his competitor narrowed the gap with six uninterrupted rallies.
Arif Latif, who holds sixth spot in the tournament ranking, did not lose nerve and bounced back with a strong reply. He saved the honour with a striking knock of 21-19.
With such a nerve-racking end, third set turned into survival of the fittest war and both shuttlers put all in their possession to avoid a woeful exit.
They remained toe-to-toe in most part of the game but then a couple of blunders brought Andre Kurniawan down.
Arif Latif registered 21-17 score and setup next clash with the second seeded shuttler Marc Zwiebler in semi-final round.
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