Taufik Hidayat beats Wong Ki Wing to enter into final of the 2011 Canada Open Grand Prix
Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat advanced into the Men’s Singles final as he defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki in the semi-final of the 2011 Canada Open Grand Prix, in Richmond DC, Canada, on Sunday, July 24.
The top seed in the Men’s Singles category, Taufik, who is also placed at Number Four in the world rankings, had to dig deep into his reserves to beat the third seed, Wong Wing in a three-set fight which took 60 minutes of remarkable badminton from both
shuttlers.
Taufik started the match in a shaky manner, as he played with a slower speed when compared to his opponent who was playing with great perfection. Wong Wing played to his full potential against the higher ranked Indonesian, who was no playing impressive badminton
in the opening game. At the interval, the top seed was lagging behind his challenger with the score at 9-11.
After the break, the Indonesian accelerated his speed to catch up with the Hong Kong shuttler and remained successful in levelling the score by reaching 15-15. Wong Wing proved his worth against the top seed by playing wonderful badminton at the concluding
phase of the set and won it by 21-19 margin, in 23 minutes.
The following game was absolutely thrilling, where both players delivered a superb performance as the score remained equal until the second part, where the Indonesian started to control the rallies. Taufik found his momentum and played some terrific strokes
at the end and won the game by 21-16 score in 18 minutes.
The third set was also worth watching, as both shuttlers played to their maximum abilities without giving each other a clear lead in the first-half. Taufik was dominating the rallies by making his opponent move around in the court with the superb variations
in his shots. Until the interval, the top seed established a two-point difference of 11-9.
After the break, the top seed continued his better play in the game against the Hong Kong shuttler, who lost his focus and remained struggling in returning the perfectly executed strokes of his challenger. Taufik finished-off the game with a 21-17 margin,
in 19 minutes. The concluding score of this match was 19-21, 21-16 and 21-17.
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