Sourabh Varma stuns Hu Yun in Men’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 India Open GP Gold
India’s emerging shuttler Sourabh Varma cheered the home fans as he stunned the higher ranked Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the Men’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 India Open GP Gold, on Friday, December 23, at Lucknow, India.
The World Number 72, Sourabh, who has been playing well for the last couple of years, proved his worth on the home soil as he has powered his way into the semi-final of the event.
The higher ranked Yun failed to overpower his local opponent and lost the fight in straight sets with a close margin. The Indian delivered phenomenal performance for 50 minutes and won the crucial battle in style.
Sourabh played at his best in the opening game and troubled his rival throughout the game and won it with a tight score. In the second game, he again remained in good control and emerged as the winner with a narrow difference.
In the opening points of the first game, Yun played well and remained ahead of the Indian by dominating the pace of the game. However, Sourabh lifted up his level of play and matched the speed of his opponent. Until the break in the first set, both players
remained close.
After the break, they continued playing top quality badminton but no one could build a comfortable lead. At the ending points, Sourabh, who was having the support of home fans, played to his full potential and won the game with a dramatic score of 23-21.
In the following set, Sourabh dominated the game in the starting points and remained successful in putting pressure on his opponent. However, Yun levelled the score by playing fast and aggressive game. Until the interval, the Hong Kong shuttler was just
ahead of his rival at 11-9.
After the break, Yun remained on the right track and reached at 19-15. At this crucial stage, the Indian displayed stunning performance as he scored six points in a row to win the set with a margin of 21-19. He ended the match with a remarkable result of
23-21 and 21-19.
In the semi-final, Sourabh will take on Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand who has got rid of Malaysia’s Misbun Ramdan Mohmed Misbun at the top-8 stage.
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