Sho Sasaki fails to escort Japan to glory in 2012 China Open – Badminton Feature
Japan’s Sho Sasaki was expected to lead the country to final rounds of 2012 Li Ning China Open as he was the top ranked national campaigner in this Super Series tournament but he failed to live up to expectations and crashed out of the opening round.
World Number eight Men’s Singles expert fell prey to an unseeded Malaysian youngster Wei Feng Chong who sent him packing by sealing a straight-set victory.
Sho Sasaki, who was placed at sixth spot in the tournament ranking, could not make a good start which ultimately led him to a woeful end. He has been struggling against the lower ranked players for last couple of months and this bad patch continued in 2012
China Open.
Earlier, the experienced Japanese shuttler knelt down in front of Daren Liew in the French Open and Denmark Open while the Indonesia Open GP Gold saw him surrendering against Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
In his latest international outing, he was in high spirit to end this long streak of failures but unfortunately the Malaysian shuttler Wei Feng turned his plan into dust. Both contenders were head-to-head in their opening match and it proved the last one
for Sho Sasaki as he faced a 2-0 defeat.
World Number 26 Wei Feng established his grip over the game immediately in the first set and did not give his challenger even a single counter-attack opportunity. He kick-started his campaign with few back-to-back rallies and maintained this momentum all
the way to final moments.
Though, he took some time to read his rival’s strategy but he managed to make a notable difference with 7-2 total. He showed consistency in his performance and kept his competitor at the lower end until half time.
Men’s Singles maestro Sho Sasaki was not ready for such intensive attack as he looked completely confused throughout the first half of the set. He made every effort to tip the scale in his favour later but he failed to counter-balance the situation.
The Japanese player prevailed in couple of uninterrupted rallies in third quarter of the set and it was felt that he will overpower Wei Feng easily but his opponent’s strong backlash turned the tables.
At first, Wei Feng reinstated his dominance with 17-10 margin and then swept the table with an overwhelming figure of 21-13.
With such an impressive performance, he established a psychological edge which helped him also in the following game. He bagged second set of the match with distinction and cast out his superior rival.
On the other hand, Sho Sasaki frittered away a golden opportunity to bring life back into the contest as he thundered in the establishing rallies but blundered in crucial moments of the game.
He gained an early advantage with a respectable score position of 6-2 but lack of consistency proved the biggest trouble in his way to success. He lost focus and allowed the opposing shuttler to bounce back.
Both contenders stood toe-to-toe until third quarter of the set as neither of them could establish a permanent lead. Finally, this nerve-racking contest reached a climax when Sho Sasaki surrendered after reading 16-21 margin on the board.
Now this recent failure has initiated a debate that what should be done to end Sho Sasaki’s ongoing bad patch. The Japanese campaigner is all set to represent the country in prestigious events like Hong Kong Open and BWF Super Series Finals but he must elevate
his mental strength to prove his worth in the arena.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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