Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Hoon Thien How pass first-round hurdle at the 2011 World Championships
Malaysia’s Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Hoon Thien How proved that they are back on the right track as they thrashed former World Champions, Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach of USA in the first round of Men’s Doubles at the 2011 World Championships, in London,
on Monday, August 8.
The World Number 25 Malaysian pair delivered a stunning performance in their opening match and got rid of the experienced opponents, to prove that they are also in the row of main contenders in the mega event. After winning their first round match, Hoon
Thien said, “We feel thrilled to clear the first round by beating the former world champions. It is all credit to our great game plan.”
It was a wonderful match for the Malaysians as they were not expecting an easy win against their experienced challengers. However, they deserved to win as they played flawless badminton in the whole match and remained in complete control against the shaky
American shuttlers.
The opening set of this Men’s Doubles match started in thrilling manner, as both pairs remained close until the end of the first-half. However, in the second part of the set, the Malaysians played top-quality badminton and won the set by a 21-17 margin.
The second set was completely dominated by the Malaysians, who remained ahead of their rivals in the whole game. They created opportunities to get the bird high in the air and execute powerful jump smashes in the middle of their opponents’ court. They finished-off
the second set in scintillating fashion by playing remarkable badminton with a dramatic margin of 21-14.
In the Men’s Singles second round, the Malaysians will fight against Lee Sheng Mu and Fang Chieh Min of Taiwan. While talking about their second round match, Mohd Zakry said, “The second round against the Taiwanese will be more challenging. We have beaten
them once at the All-England this year. They possess good speed and power and we will be ready to counter them.”
The second round encounter will be played today and the Malaysians are quite optimistic to win the battle and continue their winning run in the mega event.
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