Tian Houwei stuns Jen Hao Hsu in Men’s Singles round-of-16 at the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011
China’s Tian Houwei delivered a stunning performance to oust the experienced Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei, in the Men’s Singles round-of-16 of the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011, at Vladivostok, Russia, on June 30, 2011.
The Chinese shuttler put up a great show of top-class badminton, as he dominated the game by playing impressively against Jen Hao, who is currently World Number 43. Tian showed no mercy to his experienced rival and played a planned game to beat his challenger
in straight-sets, in just 38 minutes.
In the first game of the match, both players matched the speed of each other and worked well in all areas of the court by playing positive badminton. However, towards the end of the opening half in the first game, the Chinese geared up his speed and played
aggressively to earn a three-point lead of 11-8.
The match became quite interesting after the interval, where Jen hao worked well to get close to his opponent by playing some fascinating strokes at the net. However, Tian got back on the right track after accelerating his speed in the front side of his
court.
Tian’s smart and aggressive play at the net coupled with strong pushes, earned him a one-set advantage as he finished off the game by a 21-16 margin, in 22 minutes.
In the second game, the Chinese hardly faced any resistance from his experienced opponent, who failed to tackle the pace of the game. Tian established a comfortable gap of five points by reaching at 11-6.
After the break, the Chinese injected more speed in his strokes to push Jen Hao in a defensive position. He worked well in the concluding part of the second set and consumed only 16 minutes to win the game by a wonderful score of 21-13. The 38-minute two-set
fight ended with a 21-16 and 21-13 margin.
In the Men’s Singles quarter-final, Tian is set to meet Russia’s Vladimir Malkov, who managed to defeat Singapore’s Yong Zhao Ashton Chen, in the third round of the event.
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