Ratchanok Intanon overwhelms Arundhati Pantawane to move into semi-finals of 2013 India Open
Thailand’s talented shuttler Ratchanok Intanon remained invincible in the quarter-final round and earned the right to be in the semi-finals of Yonex Sunrise India Open on Friday, April 26, 2013.
She was up against the local shuttler Arundhati Pantawane and this Women’s Singles encounter prolonged to52 minutes before ending with 14-21, 21-7 and 21-16 margin.
Though, the Thai campaigner lost first set but she stormed back with a strong reply and dominated the ending two games.
On the other hand, the Indian player disappointed her supporters by putting a below par performance in the pressure situation.
Arundhati Pantawane gave hope to the Indian badminton lovers by performing exceedingly well in the opening game.
She employed interesting tactics in first half of the set and gained an immediate advantage. Many times, she pushed her rival on the back foot with power packed strokes and then claimed the point with deceiving drop net shot.
At the one-minute interval, Arundhati was in commanding position and she enjoyed that status even after the mid-game break. She registered an overwhelming score of 21-14 and entered in second set of match.
However, story was entirely different in the following game as the Thai shuttler revived her lost form and tipped the scale in her favour.
This time Ratchanok did not wait for the right moment and launched an intensive attack. She bagged many back-to-back points and left her challenger far behind on the points table.
The opposing shuttler was not prepared for such strong backlash as she remained completely grounded throughout this crucial set.
On the other hand, Ratchanok played with great precision and managed to avoid a straight-set defeat with a staggering knock of 21-7.
Third set of the match put both shuttlers under huge pressure as they were just one-step away either from semi-final round or an exit from this tournament.
Initially, both contenders challenged each other in all departments of game and made the crowd gasp.
Finally, this nerve-racking contest reached to its climax when Ratchanok Intanon registered a winning margin of 21-16 and paved her path to the second last round of this esteemed event.
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