Singapore International Series: Zhao Jiang, Liu Yi march into Men’s Doubles quarter-finals
Men’s Doubles partners Zhao Jiang Terry Yeo-Liu Yi showed superb coordination and outshined Hardi Hardianto-Felix Kinasal to secure a berth in the quarter-finals of Li-Ning Singapore International Series on August 16, 2012.
This pre quarter-final showdown remained in full swing for 50 minutes before getting resolved with final result of 20-22, 22-20 and 21-12.
The local badminton arena was filled to its brim as huge crowd assembled to support native shuttlers in this crucial match.
Zhao Jiang and Liu Yi, who hold third spot in tournament ranking, did not disappoint their supporters and locked the honour in a splendid manner.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian partnership could not hold the pressure of big match and collapsed in ending two games.
In opening set of the match, both contenders challenged each other in all departments of the game and made this fight a memorable contest.
They remained toe-to-toe in most part of the game as none of them could make notable difference all the way to final moments.
In first half, Zhao and Liu made swift progress but they were stopped by their rivals just before the interval.
The twosome of Hardi and Felix did not fritter away this opportunity and finished first half with a slight edge.
They managed to step forward at steady pace but couple of fatal mistakes brought them down in third quarter of the set.
However, they managed to tip the scale in their favour while hanging by thread to stay alive. They bagged first set with 22-20 score on the board.
Next game was replay of previous one but in reverse manner as this time it was Singaporeans' turn to prove themselves late bloomers.
They kept a low profile in the beginning but stunned their challengers with a brisk attack in later part of the game.
Zhao and Liu brought the cliff-hanging contest to right balance by putting a favourable margin of 22-20.
They made the best out of this success in the decider and locked the honour with an even more impressive knock of 21-12.
Now their next challenge will be to surpass Chun Chieh Liao-Yen Jui Lin to ensure their presence in the semi-finals of this International Series.
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