Porntip Buranaprasertsuk beats Wang Shixian in Women’s Singles event of 2012 Hong Kong Open
Women’s Singles campaigner Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand performed exceptionally well in the second round and led her country to the quarter-finals of Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on November 22, 2012.
She overpowered Wang Shixian in a hard fought battle which remained in full swing for three gruelling sets before ending with decisive figures of 21-17, 12-21 and 23-21.
The Thai shuttler, who was underrated earlier in this Super Series, registered her class by sealing a 2-1 victory.
On the other hand, World Number five Wang Shixian crashed out despite of being one of the hot favourites in this prestigious tournament.
She took a great start in every segment of the showdown but could not display good finishing skills to tip the scale in her favour.
Porntip kick-started her campaign with a staggering knock in the opening game. She took some time to get settled but never looked back after gaining the required momentum.
In first half of the set, she played with a cautious approach and remained equal until 4-4 total but then a flurry of well placed strokes took her to a commanding position of 8-4.
This initial lead helped her to keep the opposing shuttler under control and she placed a decent margin of 11 before the break.
Though, Wang Shixian put an honest effort to counter-balance the situation but she failed to hit the mark until final result. She could not come out of a four-point deficit and surrendered after reading 17-21 score on the board.
However, she did not remain at the lower end permanently and proved her worth by finishing second set with a huge lead of nine points.
The Chinese badminton queen did not show mercy and unleashed a series of power packed smashes which ultimately fetched valuable points.
She established an unassailable lead with 6-0 total and widened the gap by piling up an indomitable score of 11-3 at the half time.
After the mid-game break, Wang Shixian played with even more precision and did not give her competitor even a single counter-attack opportunity. She swept the table with an overwhelming margin of 21-12.
Third set was the best part of this encounter as both contenders entertained the crowd until last shot was played.
Initially, Porntip had a clear edge of eight points in 11-3 before the interval but then the Chinese female shuttler brought life back into the contest. She played positive badminton and levelled the score with 16-16.
They stood toe-to-toe until game point situation but finally Porntip struck hard and locked the honour with an impressive knock of 23-21.
Now her next challenger will be Juliane Schenk of Germany and a win will escort her to the semi-final round of this esteemed tournament.
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