Sung Ji Hyun beats Lydia Cheah in the opening round of 2013 Malaysia Open
Korea’s badminton queen Sung Ji Hyun played impeccable badminton in the opening round and gained access to the pre quarter-finals of Maybank Malaysia Open on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.
She locked horns with Women's Singles expert Lydia Li Ya Cheah in local badminton arena of Kuala Lumpur and sealed a splendid straight-set victory with an impressive result of 21-19 and 21-18.
World Number seven Ji Hyun established a strong grip immediately in the first set and maintained that upper hand all the way to final moments.
On the other hand, the native shuttler could not relish full benefits of home ground and crashed out in a disgraceful manner.
In the opening game, the Korean campaigner played cautiously in the establishing rallies and this approach resulted in a tight margin.
However, she did not take much time to gain the required momentum and made a notable difference on the points table.
Ji Hyun mounted pressure by putting a decent total of 7 and then magnified the impact by pocketing few valuable points in a row.
Her aggressive game plan yielded favourable results and she finished first half of the set with a significant figure of 11.
After the one-minute interval, there were some unexpected turns in the game as Lydia Cheah brought life back into the contest with an electrifying performance.
The Malaysian played with great conviction and remained equal until third quarter of the set. At this stage, she made some fatal mistakes that hit her hard in the concluding rallies.
Ji Hyun did not squander this counterattack opportunity and bagged this crucial match point with 21-19 score on the board.
The following game started with few back-to-back gruelling rallies and the Malaysian player established an early lead.
Lydia Cheah was in dominating position until 8-4 but then her competitor unleashed a flurry of power packed strokes and pushed her on back foot.
Ji Hyun counterbalanced the situation before the half time and then served the notice of her supremacy with 21-18 margin.
Now she will be up against a compatriot shuttler Bae Yeon Ju in the pre quarter-final round of Maybank Malaysia Open.
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