Sho Sasaki sends Anand Pawar packing in opening round of 2012 Yonex Denmark Open
Japan’s ace shuttler Sho Sasaki proved his worth in the opening round of Yonex Denmark Open as he defeated Men’s Singles shuttler Anand Pawar on Wednesday, October 17, 2012.
However, he had to sweat hard for 54 minutes before reading a favourable result of 14-21, 21-15 and 21-11.
World Number six Sho Sasaki, who is also the fifth seeded player in this Premier Super Series, was expected to have a smooth road to victory but the talented Indian campaigner forced him to put an extra effort throughout the three games.
Anand Pawar alarmed his higher ranked rival by claiming the opening match point on merit. He employed interesting tactics and confounded the Japanese maestro with supreme badminton craft.
He made his intentions straight immediately in the beginning when he stormed back after remaining at the lower end.
Though, Anand Pawar trailed behind until 9-11 but he proved himself a late bloomer by coming back from a horrendous start.
He prevailed in six uninterrupted rallies and established a decent lead with 15-11 margin.
He did not drop this pace in third quarter of the set and won first match point by registering 21-14 score on the board.
However, it was his last success in this tournament as the experienced Sho Sasaki did not give him even a single chance to reclaim his supremacy.
The Japanese campaigner showed elevated craft on the court and managed to bring the contest to the right balance.
He piled up an indomitable figure of 11 before the one-minute break and then capitalised this initial advantage to win in the second set.
Later part of the game completely belonged to Sho Sasaki who smacked his competitor with a striking knock of 21-15.
Now both contenders were standing equal with one win each and they made every effort to claim this final match point.
Neither of them could make a notable difference until half time but then the Japanese shuttler’s magic prevailed and he sealed a splendid victory with 21-11 margin.
His next challenge will be to surpass Daren Liew of Malaysia and win will ensure his presence in the quarter-finals of 2012 Denmark Open.
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