Sung Hwan Park defeats Muhammad Hafiz Hashim in pre-quarter-final of the Thailand Open GP Gold 2011
Korea’s Sung Hwan Park has defeated Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim in the Men’s Singles pre-quarter-final match of the Thailand Open GP Gold 2011, in Thailand, on June 9.
Park, who is the World Number Eight and third seed of the event, had to spend 69 minutes to beat Hafiz Hashim, in a breathtaking three-set contest.
The encounter was a match between two experienced shuttlers in the world of badminton. The 26-year-old Park played a planned game in the starting half of the first game. The Korean dominated the opening game with remarkable control over the rallies.
Hafiz Hashim remained helpless against the remarkable precision of his Korean opponent, who was playing entertaining badminton. Park built pressure on the Malaysian which helped him in winning the opening game by a reasonable difference of 21-16, in 19 minutes.
In the following game of the match, the 28-year-old Malaysian became quicker as compared to the previous game. He controlled the rallies by getting the bird early from the rear and front court. His defence became stronger in this second-set, as he returned the powerful smashes of the Korean with considerable ease.
Park failed to perform well in the concluding phase of the second-set, as Hafiz Hashim was playing positive badminton. The Korean lost the second game in 22 minutes with a score of 18-21.
The game became more intense in the third-set, where both shuttlers could not manage a good lead until the concluding points of the match. The quality of the game was top-class, as both players employed every skill they had in their reserves.
The crowd could not have asked for a better contest than this clash, where the score reached 23-23 at one point. Park was hitting the bird hard on the sidelines of the court, but the defence of his Malaysian challenger was quite strong.
Hashim made a crucial mistake which helped the Korean to win the set by a tight difference of 25-23, in 28 minutes. The entertaining match ended with a 21-16, 18-21 and 25-23 margin.
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