Riou Panuga stuns Nicole Schaller to surge into quarter-final round – Polish Open Update
England’s Riou Panuga grabbed all the attention when she stamped Nicole Schaller and trod into the quarter-final round of the Polish Open on Friday, August 31, 2012.
This Women’s Singles encounter kept both shuttlers busy on the court for 52 minutes and concluded with final figures of 22-24, 21-18 and 21-16.
The Swiss campaigner, who was frontrunner in this race for glory, disappointed her supporters as she knelt down in front of lower ranked competitor and crashed out of this International Series.
Nicole looked off colour straight away in the first set as she struggled to overcome the opposing shuttler.
She remained at the lower end in the opening rallies and allowed the British shuttler to enjoy the upper hand in the 1-5 margin.
Though, she grabbed four consecutive points and counter-balanced the situation but then a few unforced errors weakened her grip over game.
Meanwhile, Riou Panuga kept moving forward and mounted pressure by placing a mountainous total of 11 before the interval.
After mid-game break, both players strived hard to gain a permanent lead but neither of them could make a notable difference until the last shot was played.
This situation locked them in a tough competition as they were equal with 20-20 score on the board.
At this stage, Nicole employed all of her experience and brilliance in the game and tipped the scale in her favour with a decisive figure of 24-22.
However, luck was not on her side in the following game as she lost a crucial set with a deficit of three points.
This time it was Riou’s turn to prove her dominance and she did not squander this opportunity.
She made her intentions known with five productive rallies after 1-3 and then got into commanding position by putting 10-5 total just before half time.
The British campaigner did not lose focus at any stage of the game and clinched second match point with score-board flashing concluding margin of 21-18.
Third set was certainly the best part of the battle as at one stage it was felt that Nicole will lock the honour to be in the top eight players of the tournament but Riou turned the tables by registering a decisive figure of 21-16.
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