Pi Hongyan brushes aside Nozomi Okuhara to secure quarter-final berth at the Indonesia Open GP Gold
France’s ace shuttler, Pi Hongyan proved that there is still some badminton left in her as she reserved a quarter-final berth by brushing aside Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the Women’s Singles round-of-16 of the 2011 Indonesia Open GP gold, on September 29,
in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Hongyan, who is currently ranked at Number 24 spot in the Women’s Singles standings, had to struggle hard against the Japanese for three sets. She took 65 minutes to finish the pre-quarter-final and moved into the top-8 shuttlers of the Indonesia Open.
The French shuttler opened her journey against the spirited Japanese in a quivering way as she made a few unforced errors in the opening points of the first game. Her wrong shot selection helped the Japanese to remain close until the interval when the French
was slightly ahead at 11-10.
After the break, both females put up a strong show of superb badminton as they displayed their elite skills in front of the packed indoor arena. At the concluding stage of the first game, the higher ranked Hongyan showed her spirit as she played to her maximum
speed and won the game by a tight margin of 21-19 in 25 minutes.
The following game was absolutely thrilling when the Japanese occupied the driving seat this time. She accelerated her speed and dictated the pace of the rallies to push her opponent on the back foot. Her elevated and positive play earned her a considerable
advantage over her challenger, who slowed down her speed in this game.
Hongyan played defensively in the second game, which helped her rival to dominate the rallies. The French lost the second set in 20 minutes with the margin of 18-21.
In the decider, Hongyan employed incredible variations and deception in her strokes which left her opponent guessing where the bird will land. This wonderful strategy gave her enough time to hit the bird anywhere in the court.
The Japanese succumbed under pressure at a crucial stage, which helped the French to win the set by a 21-17 margin in 20 minutes. The final result of this rubber-set fight was 21-19, 18-21 and 21-17.
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