Simon Santoso beats Chan Yan Kit to surge into quarter-final at Australian Open Grand Prix Gold
Indonesia’s ace shuttler Simon Santoso surged into Men’s Singles quarter-final after beating Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit in the round-of-16 at Australian Open Grand Prix Gold 2012 at Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
However, it was not a smooth ride for the World Number 9 Santoso, who is the third seed in Australian Open as he took three games to overwhelm his Hong Kong rival who put up superb show of fast badminton.
The Indonesian started it well by playing to his maximum potential and remained successful in taking the opening set.
Nonetheless, he lost the second game but powered his way back and bagged the final set and won the match with a decent margin.
On the other hand, the World Number 34 Yan Kit showed his brilliance against his higher ranked Indonesian rival and stretched him to three games by playing well for 60 minutes.
The opening set of the set started in a fast and positive manner and both shuttlers remained equal on the board. The score was 6-6 when Santoso geared up his speed and set up a comfortable lead of 11-7 until the end of first half.
After the break, the higher ranked Santoso continued hammering his opponent and did not face much trouble in the whole game. He bagged the opening game by showing his impressive skills and won the set with a 21-16 score on the board.
In the second game, Santoso could not continue his dominating play as his lower ranked opponent was quicker in the court. Yan Kit played with precision and stunned the Indonesian by taking an 11-7 lead until the break.
After the interval, Santoso could not bridge the huge gap and remained struggling to find gaps in his rival’s court. He lost the game with a six-point deficit with a 15-21 score on the board.
In the deciding set, both men employed their impressive skills but no one could manage lead in the opening half.
The score reached at 15-15 when Santoso changed his tactics and kept the bird flat. It worked well for him and he managed to take the final set with a margin of 21-17.
Santoso remained successful in winning this thrilling contest with an interesting margin of 21-16, 15-21 and 21-17.
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