Russia Open Grand Prix: Anastasia Prokopenko beats Stefani Stoeva to surge into quarter-final
Russia’s elite player Anastasia Prokopenko surged into Women’s Singles quarter-final after making her home fans happy by beating Bulgaria’s Stefani Stoeva in round-of-16 fight at the Russia Open Grand Prix 2012 in Vladivostok, on Thursday, June 28.
The in-form Prokopenko, who is seeded at number three in Women’s Singles main draw of the tournament, had to work to her maximum potential in order to chuck out her talented opponent from Bulgaria in an interesting fight.
The higher ranked Prokopenko played her normal game without taking any pressure of being a seeded shutter in the event and ousted her spirited opponent in two sets with a tight margin on the score board by working well for 36 minutes.
While Stoeva tried to play at her best but failed to bridge the huge gap set by her rival in the first game. However, she showed her brilliance in the second set and troubled her rival in opening half but again failed to dominate the pace and lost the battle with a respectable difference on the board.
In the first game, Prokopenko did not consume much time in taking a staggering lead without showing any respect to her Bulgarian opponent.
Stoeva, on the other hand, could not prove her mettle against Prokopenko who was having the support of her home crowd.
Until the mid-game interval, the local shuttler was in strong position as she established a fabulous lead of 11-5.
After the break, Stoeva played much better game and also narrowed the gap but it was too late as Prokopenko managed to win the set with a 21-19 score on the board.
In the second set, Stoeva did not let Prokopenko to take an early lead by matching the pace of rallies.
The Bulgarian was in good control of rallies this time and remained stick around her higher ranked opponent until the break.
After the interval, Prokopenko played at her best and starter to construct a gap by playing positive and attacking badminton.
The Russian was at her best in the ending phase of second game and won it with a close 21-19 difference on the board.
Prokopenko ended the winning run of Stoeva at pre-quarter-final stage by beating her with a tight margin of 21-19 and 21-19.
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