Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk upsets Nguyen Tien Minh in semi-final of the Chinese Taipei Open GP Gold
Thailand’s Men’s Singles emerging shuttler, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk stunned everybody by making an upset in the Men’s Singles semi-final when he crushed top seed, Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam at the 2011 Chinese Taipei Open GP Gold, in Chinese Taipei, on
Saturday, September 10.
World Number 45, Saensomboonsuk is placed at number 15 in the Taipei Open. He played world-class badminton against the top seed and World Number Seven, Tien Minh, who was the favourite on paper for this semi-final contest. The Thai shuttler finished-off
the match without losing a single set to his higher ranked opponent, and ended it in straight games of 40 minutes.
Saensomboonsuk played terrific badminton without any pressure as he had nothing to lose against the top seed. Tien Minh played a confused game as he was under extreme pressure of being the top seed of the event.
In the opening set of the semi-final contest, the Thai shuttler played stunning badminton by moving around in the court with an incredible speed. He surprised Tien Minh with some beautiful net killings which pushed the top seed on the back foot. Saensomboonsuk’s
positive and aggressive play against the Vietnamese earned him victory in the first game by the score of 21-18, in 24 minutes.
The second set of this Men’s Singles semi-final match was a nightmare for the top seed, as he failed to find any gap in his opponent’s court. The spirited Thai shuttler was quick in picking the bird early and placed his strokes in the right areas. Tien Minh
was struggling to find the gaps and he played many negative strokes which helped his challenger to reach 11-7.
After the break, Saensomboonsuk remained in the right state of mind and played with a positive approach. He was not targeting the side lines as his only focus in the game was to play positive strokes. His strategy worked really well and earned him the match
in the second game with a dramatic score of 21-12, in 16 minutes. The semi-final contest finished-off in 40 minutes and the Thai shuttler won the battle of supremacy with the margin of 21-18 and 21-12.
In the Men’s Singles final, Saensomboonsuk is set to play against Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, who defeated experienced team-mate, Sony Dwi Kuncoro in a thrilling rubber-set semi-final match.
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