Sayaka Sato narrowly defeats Susan Egelstaff in Women’s Singles Group H at London Olympics
Sayaka Sato, an in-form shuttler from Japan, proved her worth on court as she advanced into the knockout stage after narrowly beating Great Britain’s Susan Egelstaff in her last Women’s Singles Group H battle at the 2012 London Olympics on Tuesday, July
31, in London.
The World Number 16 Sayaka, who is 12th seed in the main draw in Women’s Singles category at Olympics, dig deep into her arsenal to stamp her supremacy over the talented Egelstaff in a thrilling contest.
The higher ranked Sayaka failed to stop the aggression of her rival in the opening set but made the score levelled by taking the second game. She found a good flow in the final set and took it easily to register a thrilling victory over the local shuttler.
On the other hand, Egelstaff played superb badminton in front of her home fans and took the opening game but she failed to maintain her rhythm in the following both sets and lost the match with a respectable score on the board.
In the first game, both shuttlers showed a wonderful performance on court as they played aggressive and positive badminton and remained close until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Sayaka tried to take advantage on board by playing fast badminton but failed to stop the steady progress of her opponent and eventually lost the set with a reasonable margin of 18-21.
In the following set, Sayaka played better game as she did not let Egelstaff to play dominating badminton this time but also could not manage a comfortable lead until the break.
However, the Japanese shuttler played remarkable badminton in the second half and easily managed to win the set with a 21-16 score on the board.
In the deciding set, Sayaka was in complete control of rallies as she dictated Egelstaff in all areas of the court and remained successful in taking the final set with a staggering margin of 21-12.
The 12th seeded Sayaka emerged as the winner in this tremendous contest in three games with a thrilling 18-21, 21-16 and 21-12 score on the board.
Tags: