Nguyen Tien Minh ousts Marc Zwiebler in Men’s Singles semi-final of the 2011 US Open GP Gold
Vietnamese shuttler, Nguyen Tien Minh, overpowered Germany’s Marc Zwiebler in the Men’s Singles semi-final of the 2011 US Open GP Gold, in Orange, California, on Friday, July 15.
Third seed, Tien Minh, had to dig deep into his reserves to beat the talented German, who outclassed the top seed Indonesian, Taufik Hidayat, in the quarter-final of the event. The Vietnamese, who is World Number 9 in the international standings, worked
hard to beat Zwiebler in a scintillating rubber-set match, which took 70 minutes of wonderful badminton from both shuttlers.
In the first game of the match, both players remained quite close by playing fast badminton, which grabbed the attention of the huge crowd at the indoor arena in Orange. Both shuttlers had equal chances of winning the opening set, as the score was tied until
the finishing stage of the set.
Tien Minh, who is known for his attacking game, made a few unforced errors in the ending points of the first set and lost it with a close difference of 20-22, after working hard for 29 minutes.
The second set of the match was a different story, as the Vietnamese changed his strategy and started to get the bird early from the net. He pushed his challenger in a defensive position, which helped the third seed in winning one point after the other.
The sixth seed, Zwiebler, could not continue his winning run in the second game as his rival was playing with aggression and control. Tien Minh clinched the game in an impressive manner with a 21-13 margin, in just 18 minutes.
The final game also saw a tough fight between both shuttlers, as they were in equal control until the concluding part of the third set. However, it was Tien Minh who controlled the points in the end and won the deciding game with a margin of 21-18, in 23
minutes. The 70-minute rubber-set fight ended with a 20-22, 21-13 and 21-18 margin.
In the title match of the tournament, Tien Minh will play against Sho Sasaki of Japan, who crushed Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei in the other Men’s Singles semi-final encounter.
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