Muhammad Hafiz Hashim brushes aside Wan Ho Shon in first round of the Thailand Open GP Gold 2011
Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim has brushed aside Korea’s Wan ho Shon in a three-set epic fight, in the Men’s Singles first round of the Thailand Open GP Gold 2011, in Thailand, on Wednesday, June 8.
Hafiz Hashim, who is currently the World Number 42 in the rankings, had to work really hard for 67 minutes to chuck-out the ninth seed Ho Shon, who is the World Number 21 in the Men’s Singles standings.
It was the best match of the day, as both players demonstrated a remarkable performance by playing at the highest level of the game. The score progressed closely because of the tremendous play from both competitors.
In the second-half of the first set, Ho Shon managed to take a two-point lead and maintained it in the rest of the game. Hafiz Hashim executed many powerful smashes at the concluding phase of the first set, but failed to earn points as the Korean’s defence
was very strong. The Malaysian lost the first game by a reasonable margin of 18-21, in 20 minutes.
The second set was a thrilling fight between both shuttlers, which pulled the attention of the crowd. The packed hall was watching this battle with great interest, as both the experienced shuttlers were playing at their best. In the whole set, no player
was successful in creating a good gap of points. However, Hafiz Hashim was lucky in the ending points, as he managed to win the set by a tight margin of 24-22, in 27 minutes.
The match became more intense in the final set, where both players increased the speed of the game. The interesting exchange of long rallies with powerful strokes from both sides made the crowd crazy. The Korean changed his tactics on different occasions
but failed to put pressure on the Malaysian, who was playing better badminton in the concluding points.
Hafiz Hashim emerged as the winner in this rubber-set fight by winning the third set in 22 minutes, with a margin of 21-19. The 67-minute long battle ended with the result of 18-21, 24-22 and 21-19.
Tags: