Riichi Takeshita confounds Sattawat Pongnairat to clear first hurdle in 2012 Japan Open
Men’s Singles shuttler Riichi Takeshita eased into the second stage of the qualifying round as he stamped Sattawat Pongnairat in his opening match of Yonex Japan Open on September 18, 2012.
This hard fought battle kept both contenders head-to-head for 53 minutes and the spectators remained glued to their chairs until decisive figures of 21-15, 15-21 and 21-13.
The victorious shuttler prevailed in the opening and ending segments of the showdown whereas the US campaigner could live his moment of glory only in the second set.
Riichi made his intentions clear by snatching first match point with a notable difference in the final margin.
He set the foundation of his supremacy by dominating the overall pace of the preliminary rallies. He placed a 4-1 total and then added six consecutive points to strengthen his grip.
At half time, Riichi was enjoying the upper hand with an 11-5 margin but a couple of mistakes allowed his challenger to narrow the gap.
Sattawat did not squander this opportunity and levelled the score but he could not maintain this rhythm and lost the first set with a six-point deficit.
However, the US player showed elevated craft in the next game and turned his rival’s plan of a straight-set victory into dust.
This time he played with right attitude and fortitude to save some honour. He established a respectable lead by pocketing five points in a row and then doubled the impact with 7-4 total.
Though, he lost focus in the middle of the game which resulted in a 9-11 score but he did not take much time to come out of this bad patch.
Sattawat employed all of his brilliance in the game and tipped the scale in his favour with an impressive knock of 21-15.
The decider became crucial with this development as both contenders were standing equal with one win each.
At this stage, Riichi lived up to the expectations of local badminton lovers and gave them a solid reason to celebrate by putting an overwhelming figure of 21-13.
Now the Japanese campaigner will test his skills against the higher ranked Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth B. in the second stage of the qualifying round.
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