Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota land a title berth in Singapore Open Super Series 2012
Japan’s in-form shuttlers Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota landed a title berth after beating their lower ranked team-mates Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo in Mixed Doubles semi-final match at the Li Ning Singapore Open Super Series 2012 on Saturday, June 23,
in Singapore.
The higher ranked Japanese shuttlers Shintaro and Reiko, who are fourth seeds in Mixed Doubles draw of the tournament, showed their brilliance in the court and toppled their seventh seeded compatriots in a convincing fashion.
The fourth seeded Shintaro and Reiko did not lose their focus at any stage in the match and overpowered their rivals in straight games by a reasonable margin on the score board.
Shoji and Shizuka, in the meanwhile, could not live up to expectations as they failed to stop the progress of their higher ranked rivals in the court and lost to them in two games without showing any impressive craft.
In the first game, both couples played elevated badminton as they were focused in the court. They missed no chance to finish off rallies and progressed closely until the mid-game interval.
After the one-minute break, the higher ranked Shintaro and Reiko gradually controlled the pace of rallies while working well at net.
The number four seeds created opportunities to take high clears and executed powerful smashes to take the opening game with a margin of 21-18.
In the following game, the battle was quite interesting between both Japanese couples until the score reached at 7-7.
At this stage, Shintaro and Reiko played with precision and managed a reasonable lead of 11-9 until the one-minute break.
After the mid-game interval, Shintaro and Reiko showed their class and stretched their lead by playing aggressive game. They did not let their rivals to draw near throughout the second part.
The in-form Shintaro and Reiko remained in complete control in the ending phase of second set and easily bagged it in an inspiring fashion by a comfortable 21-16 score on the board.
The fourth seeded Shintaro and Reiko emerged as the winner of this semi-final clash against their team-mates with a tremendous margin of 21-18 and 21-16.
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