Muhammad Hafiz Hashim storms into Men’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 Yonex Chinese Taipei Open
Malaysia’s experienced shuttler, Hafiz Muhammad Hashim booked a quarter-final place after establishing his superiority over Dicky Palyama of Netherlands in the Men’s Singles pre-quarter-final of the 2011 Yonex Chinese Taipei Open, in Chinese Taipei, on Thursday,
September 8.
Hafiz Hashim currently has a world ranking of Number 52 in the Men’s Singles category and is looking forward to improve it to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. He played wonderful badminton against World Number 41, Palyama, who was the 13th
seed in the Men’s Singles draw in the tournament.
The Malaysian won the match in three games by taking 40 minutes in the court. He played a planned game in the whole match and established his worth by winning it in impressive fashion. By winning this round-of-16 contest, Hafiz Hashim proved that he has
some remarkable badminton left in him.
In the opening game, Hafiz Hashim worked well in the starting points and established a good lead which helped him in putting pressure on his higher ranked opponent. His cross-court fast drops and powerful down the line straight smashes helped him in winning
the first game with a good margin of 21-16, in 14 minutes.
In the second game, Hafiz Hashim lost his focus which helped his opponent to build a good lead in the start. Palyama was quicker this time in taking the bird early from all areas and his powerful smashes eliminated the hopes of the Malaysian to finish off
the match in straight sets. Hafiz Hashim lost the second set with the score of 16-21 in 16 minutes.
However, the Malaysian veteran showed glimpses of his brilliance in the third set of this thrilling match. He started to execute spinning net strokes which forced his opponent to give a lose return. Hafiz Hashim missed no chance to bury the bird by hitting
powerful smashes and won the final set with a dramatic difference of 21-6, in just 10 minutes.
The Malaysian won the 40-minutes fight with a 21-15, 16-21 and 21-6 margin. Hafiz Hashim will take on Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the Men’s Singles quarter-final.
Tags: