Pablo Abian topples Sai Praneeth B. in Men’s Singles first round of the 2011 Bulgarian International
Spain’s ace shuttler, Pablo Abian showed his elite skills as he toppled India’s Sai Praneeth B. in the Men’s Singles first round of the 2011 Bulgarian International, at Sofia, Bulgaria, on Friday, October 7.
The top seed of the event, Pablo, who is currently enjoying Number 23 position in the Men’s Singles world rankings, has been playing a remarkable game for the last six months and is confident to live up to the expectations in the current event.
Pablo struggled in the opening game of the match as he was not familiar with the conditions of the court. The Indian also put up a strong show of wonderful badminton in the first game but failed to finish it well. However, the Spanish found his flow and
showed his class in the second game and won it with a remarkable margin.
In the starting points of this contest, both shuttlers showed their wonderful skills by remaining close. Pablo was relying on his effective drives while Sai was utilising his powerful smashes to occupy the driving seat. Until the break, both players failed
to build a considerable lead as the top seed, Pablo, was just ahead at 11-10.
After the interval, the top seed tried to stretch his lead but the Indian was also playing at the same level. The score remained tied until 21-21, when the Spanish played smart badminton by working well at the net and won the set by a dramatic score of 23-21
in 22 minutes.
The second game was not that tough for Pablo as he established a good lead in the starting points. His impressive strokes were landing perfectly in the targeted areas. Sai increased his speed to stop the aggressive run of the higher ranked Spanish but failed
to control the pace of the game.
Pablo rushed towards the ending points of the second game without any problem and won it with a big margin of 21-12 by taking just 12 minutes in the court. The final score of this 34-minute first-round clash was 23-21 and 21-12.
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