Petr Koukal confounds Lee Hong Je in Men’s Singles opening round – Korea Open Update
Czech Republic’s Petr Koukal showed a commendable performance in the opening round of Korea Grand Prix Gold and thrashed the native shuttler Lee Hong Je on Tuesday, December 4, 2012.
This Men’s Singles encounter, staged at local badminton arena of Hwasun-gun, remained in full swing for 45 minutes before ending with final figures of 21-18 and 21-15.
Petr Koukal, who was underrated earlier in this tournament, registered his presence by sealing a straight-set victory.
On the other hand, it was sheer disappointment for the Korean spectators as the local player put a below par performance and failed to pocket even a single match point.
Hong Je lost the first set with a deficit of three points and then knelt down tamely in the following game as well.
The Czech campaigner started the ball rolling immediately in the beginning of first set and maintained that momentum all the way to the final moments.
He unleashed a series of productive strokes and clinched many valuable points in a row. He carried this flow in the next couple of rallies and doubled his lead way before the interval.
At mid-game break, Petr Koukal was in a commanding position with a mountainous total of 11 but he lost focus after the interval and allowed his challenger to narrow the gap.
Hong Je showed some spark and ruled the court in a couple of rallies but his supremacy was really short lived as the opposing shuttler stormed back with a strong reply and turned the tables.
The Czech contender made swift progress and left his competitor far behind with an overwhelming margin of 21-18.
This first set win gave his confidence a real boost and he played with even more conviction in the following game.
Petr Koukal employed interesting tactics as at first he pushed his opponent on the back-foot with some power packed smashes and then claimed many valuable points with masterly crafted drop net shots.
He maintained a notable difference all the way to game point situation and ended this tussle in a favourable manner with 21-15 score.
Now he is scheduled to meet the Malaysian player Misbun Ramdan Mohmed Misbun en route to the pre quarter-finals of this GP Gold event.
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