Sayaka Sato penetrates into Women’s Singles semi-final of the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011
Japan’s Sayaka Sato penetrated into the Women’s Singles semi-final after defeating Jeanine Cicognini of Switzerland, in their quarter-final contest at the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011, in Vladivostok, Russia, on July1.
World Number 20, Sayaka, who is the top seed in the Russian Open, had to work extra hard to produce impressive strokes to beat her opponent in a scintillating rubber-set fight, which took a court time for 45 minutes.
The Japanese proved her class in the game right from the start of the opening set, as her rival was struggling hard to find a good flow. Sayaka employed powerful smashes on accurate spots in the court of her challenger, which pushed Jeanine on the back foot.
The Japanese spared no room for the Swiss to place her strokes and got a considerable advantage in the set by creating a gap of four points at 11-7.
After the break, the top seed maintained her grip on the rallies and moved her opponent in all corners of the court. Jeanine completely failed to cope up with the level of her rival, who was playing at her best. Sayaka got a one-set lead by winning the first
game in just 14 minutes, with a 21-13 margin.
Stung by the loss of the opening game, Jeanine surprisingly made a wonderful comeback against the top seed by playing to her full potential in the second set. She became aggressive and executed powerful strokes on the side lines of the court.
The power-play of the Swiss helped her in winning the second set against Sayaka, who failed to continue her powerful run and lost the game with a margin of 13-21, in just 15 minutes.
The final set of this entertaining fight was tense, as both shuttlers were tied until the score reached 15-15. At this stage, the top seed played impressive badminton and managed to win the game by a close difference of 21-18, in 16 minutes. The rubber-set
interesting battle ended in 45 minutes with a score of 21-13, 13-21 and 21-18.
Tags: