Pablo Abian narrowly beats Petr Koukal in Men’s Singles Group O at 2012 London Olympics
Spain’s talented player Pablo Abian found a tough start in Men’s Singles Group O when he had to work extra hard to overwhelm Czech Republic’s Petr Koukal at the 2012 London Olympics at Wembley Arena, London, on Sunday, July 29.
The spirited Abian, who has been placed at number 34 in Men’s Singles world rankings, employed everything he possessed in his arsenal and remained successful in beating his opponent in hard-fought rubber games.
The higher ranked Abian took the first set without any problem but he could not maintain his focus and lost the second one. Nevertheless, he made a timely comeback in the deciding game and wrapped up victory with a decent margin.
In the meanwhile, the lower ranked Koukal played well in the opening set but not enough to stop his rival from taking the game. However, he learnt quickly from his early mistakes and remained successful in taking the second game but again failed to prove
his worth in the ending set and lost the match.
In the first game, it was Abian who played terrific badminton and managed to push his rival on back foot.
The Spanish was in good control and he managed a reasonable lead until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Abian continued putting up good show without making any uncharacteristic errors and eventually took the set with a 21-17 score on the board.
In the second set, Abian failed to continue his remarkable show as his opponent took over the charge of rallies. Until the break, he was slightly behind Koukal on score board.
After the break, the Spanish tried his best to remain positive on court but failed to stop the progress of his opponent and lost the set with a 16-21 score on the board.
However, Abian showed his brilliance in the deciding game when he showed his tremendous craft and remained successful in ending up the battle with a five-point advantage of 21-16 margin on the board.
The in-form Abian managed to win this Men’s Singles battle in three games with a decent score of 21-17, 16-21 and 21-16.
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