Tien Minh gains access to pre quarter-finals of 2013 Singapore Open – Badminton news
Vietnam’s veteran shuttler Tien Minh Nguyen served notice of his supremacy in the opening round of Li Ning Singapore Open and marched into the pre quarter-finals on Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
He locked horns with an inexperienced Indian player Srikanth K who stood tall against the higher ranked Tien Minh for 55 minutes. Although the Vietnamese campaigner managed to end this Men’s Singles tussle in a favourable manner but he had to sweat hard
while piling up the decisive figures of 19-21, 21-16 and 21-12.
The battle heated up when the Indian lad showed great maturity in his craft and alarmed his seasoned competitor with a staggering knock. The young but spirited Srikanth played very wisely in the preliminary stage and took some time to read his rival’s game.
This cautious approach kept him far behind on the points table but he did not lose nerves. He showed his real class just before the interval and bagged many valuable points in a row. He ended first half of the set with a respectable score.
After the half time, Srikanth did not show any sign of bewilderment and played impeccable badminton. He maintained decent lead all the way to game point situation and won this crucial set with 21-19 margin.
However, luck was not on his side in the following game as he lost despite of putting a great show of skills. This time, the lack of experience and good finishing skills proved biggest hurdles in his way to success.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese shuttler employed an unbeatable strategy and brought the contest to right balance. He started the beating just before the announcement of break and kept on playing with an authoritative approach all the way to final moments.
He registered a winning figure of 21-16 and setup third set of the match. Tien Minh did not give his challenger even a single chance to rise and stamped him with an overwhelming score of 21-12.
Now he is scheduled to meet Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand and a win will lead him to quarter-finals of Singapore Open.
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