Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov surge into quarter-finals - Russian Open Grand Prix 2011
Russia’s top Men’s Doubles seed, Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov, surged into the quarter-finals after beating Singapore’s Yew Loong Jonathan Tang and Zhao Jiang Terry Yeo, in the round-of-16 match of the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011, in Russia, on June
30.
Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov are currently World Number 29 and the third seeded pair of the Russian Open. They delivered a superb performance in front of the cheering home crowd and defeated the Singaporeans in a three-set entertaining fight, which ended
in 41 minutes.
The opening game was a nightmare for the Russians, as they received severe treatment from the visitors. The Singaporeans thrashed the local opponents by playing on a different level in the first set of the match. Yew Loong and Zhao Jiang reached at 11-6
in a flash in the first-half of the game by playing flawless badminton.
In the second-half of the first game, the Russian pair tried to reduce the deficit by gearing up their speed, but they failed to stop the progressive run of the Singaporeans. Vladimir and Sozonov lost the first game by a margin of 14-21, in just 15 minutes.
Stung by the loss of the first game, the firing Russians struck back in the second set, as they crushed Yew Loong and Zhao Jiang by playing to their full potential. They worked really well and dominated the game by playing attacking badminton at the net
and rear court. The Russian duo won the game in only 13 minutes with a striking margin of 21-12.
The final set was also very entertaining for the home crowd, where the local pair showed no mercy to their opponents and tamed them in an impressive manner. Their low serves, strong pushes, net killings, powerful jumping smashes and superb drives left no
room for Yew Loong and Zhao Jiang to comeback in the match.
The Russian duo finished the final set in just 14 minutes, with a 21-13 score on the board. The finishing score of this entertaining rubber-set fight was 14-21, 21-12 and 21-13.
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