Simon Santoso topples Sho Sasaki to meet Lin Dan in quarter-final of the Singapore Open Super Series
Indonesia’s Simon Santoso defeated Japan’s Sho Sasaki in the pre-quarter-final of the Singapore Open Super Series 2011, held in Singapore, on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Santoso will now play against Lin Dan of China, in the Men’s Singles quarter-final of the
event.
The World Number 11, Simon Santoso, took just 36 minutes to chuck out Sasaki in a one-sided contest, without facing any resistance from the Japanese shuttler.
Santoso showed his class in the first game of the match, as he played a game of the highest standard against Sasaki, who has been doing well for the last six months. The Indonesian knew that he needed to play at his best to beat the Japanese, who is known
for his superb temperament.
Both players put up a good show in the start, but the Indonesian started to gear up proceedings as the match progressed. At the interval, Santoso was confidently leading the game by a good margin of 11-6.
After the break, the Indonesian kept the pace of his game very high and clinched the set from Sasaki. Simon successfully won the first game in just 17 minutes with a dramatic score of 21-11.
In the following game, the Indonesian started the set in an efficient manner and quickly reached at 4-1. Sasaki gradually geared up his speed and reduced the deficit by reaching 4-6, where the Indonesian again played better badminton and reached at 11-5
in a flash.
After the break, Sasaki put up more speed in his strokes to earn points, but failed as his opponent was quicker in his movement in the court. Simon extended his lead by reaching at 18-11. He was flawless in the placement of his strokes in all corners of
Sasaki’s court.
The Indonesian ended the second game by a one-sided margin of 21-12, in 19 minutes. The ending score card of this one-sided 36-minute straight-game battle was 21-11 and 21-12.
In the quarter-final, Simon will face Lin Dan, who crushed Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen in the pre-quarter-final contest of the tournament.
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