Sony Dwi Kuncoro stuns Du Pengyu in Men’s Singles event of 2012 Li Ning China Open
Indonesia’s budding shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro delivered a stunner against Du Pengyu in the opening round of Li Ning China Open on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
He displayed commendable fighting spirit and survived this 82-minute battle with an impressive result of 11-21, 21-17 and 21-19.
This Men’s Singles encounter was staged at the local badminton arena of Shanghai as a huge crowd assembled to encourage the native shuttler.
World Number six Du Pengyu, who is one of the frontrunners in this tournament, took off in perfect manner but he could not show consistency and crashed out of the home event.
The Chinese player had an ideal start as he bagged the opening match point with distinction and raised his chances.
He launched an intensive attack and confined the opposing shuttler in the rear court. His unbeatable strategy, which was a fine blend of power packed smashes and masterly crafted drop net shots, took him to a commanding position of 11-7.
After the mid-game break, Du Pengyu doubled his lead with 15-7 and then swept the table with a significant difference in 21-11 total.
However, the story was completely different in the following game as the local shuttler failed to continue with his top form and squandered a golden chance of straight-set win.
On the other hand, Kuncoro showed a transformed character and brought the contest to the right balance.
This time the Indonesian campaigner played with great conviction and saved some honour despite staying at the lower end during most of the game.
He employed interesting tactics as he kept a low profile in the beginning and then confounded his competitor with a staggering knock.
Kuncoro started the beating after 7-9 and maintained a decent lead all the way to decisive figure of 21-17.
Third set turned into survival of the fittest war with this development and both contenders made every effort to oust the opponent.
They stood toe-to-toe until last shot was played and this cliff-hanging tussle ended in Kuncoro’s favour with 21-19 score.
Now Kuncoro will lock horns with another Chinese player Zhengming Wang in the pre quarter-final round.
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