Tontowi Ahmad, Liliyana Natsir clutch a spot in Mixed Doubles semi-finals – China Open Update
Mixed Doubles team Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia played flawless badminton and marched into the semi-final round of Li Ning China Open on November 16, 2012.
Both partners showed superb coordination and sent Tao Jiaming-Jinhua Tang packing with an impressive result of 21-17 and 21-10.
This quarter-final match was played at the local badminton complex of Shanghai and it kept both contenders busy on court for 33 minutes.
World Number three pair Tontowi-Liliyana employed its valuable experience and wrapped this showdown in just two games.
On the other hand, the Chinese campaigners disappointed the local audience by putting a below par performance.
The victorious duo established an early grip by clinching the opening match point with distinction. Tontowi and Liliyana played cautiously in the beginning and allowed their rivals to stay close on the points table.
They played with similar approach until 7-7 but then launched a brisk attack to oust the opposing team. They prevailed in four consecutive rallies and finished first half of the set with a respectable score position of 11-8.
After the mid-game break, the Indonesian players changed their tactics and played aggressive badminton. They unleashed a flurry of power packed strokes and confined their competitors in the rear court.
Their strategy was so complete that the twosome of Tao Jiaming and Jinhua Tang could not come out of their influence.
They kept trailing behind all the way to game point situation and gave up this futile chase after reading 17-21 score on the board.
The second set was also played in similar fashion as the native shuttlers failed to make amends and crashed out of this Super Series.
On the other hand, Tontowi and Liliyana showed consistency in their performance and locked the honour with a convincing lead of eleven points.
The Indonesian players started the ball rolling without wasting any time and established a decent advantage with 11-6 total.
They did not show mercy in the ending part of the game and secured a semi-final berth with 21-10 margin. Now their next challenge will be to surpass Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia to gain access to the title match of 2012 China Open.
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