Sho Sasaki defeats Anand Pawar in Men’s Singles first round of the India Open Super Series 2011
Japan’s Sho Sasaki has defeated Anand Pawar of India in the first round of the Men’s Singles in the first edition of India Open Super Series 2011, at New Delhi, today on April 27.
Sasaki took 53 minutes to throw out the Indian in a breathtaking three-set match. In the second round of the championships, the Japanese shuttler will face either Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark or team-mate Kazushi Yamada.
In the first set of the match, Pawar worked well in the start and managed a good lead of 11-7 in the first half. Sasaki, who won the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold 2011, in the start of this month, surprisingly threw away many points by making unforced
errors. He executed many smashes that went wide from the side lines of the court.
After the 60-second break, Pawar kept his momentum going by playing positively. Sasaki geared up his speed to level the score, but remained unsuccessful his opponent left no room for him to score points. Pawar grabbed the opening set in 19 minutes by a tight
margin of 21-19.
The Japanese shuttler bounced back in the second set by playing his usual attacking game. Sasaki found his momentum and established a wonderful lead of 8-4 by consuming only few minutes. At the end of the first part of the set, Pawar was far behind the opponent
at 6-11.
The Indian geared up his speed to reduce the huge gap of score but lost his control over the rallies. Sasaki remained aggressive in the game and maintained the gap throughout the set. He levelled the match by winning the second set with a reasonable margin
of 21-17, in 18 minutes.
In the final set of the match, Sasaki remained far ahead of the Indian and proved that he belongs to the highest class of the game. He was dictating the pace of the rallies that put the Indian in trouble. In the opening part of the final set, Sasaki built
a comfortable lead of 11-6.
After the 60-second rest, Sasaki remained on the winning track without leaving any room for the opponent to fight back in the match. The Japanese finished up the final set with a big margin of 21-12, in just 16 minutes. The ending score of this superb 53-minute
fight was 19-21, 21-17 and 21-12.
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