Tontowi Ahmad – Liliyana Natsir claim Mixed Doubles title at Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold
Indonesia’s best shuttlers Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir proved their supremacy on court as they easily claimed Mixed Doubles title at the home event of Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton 2012 in Indonesia, on Sunday, September 30.
The World Number Four Tontowi and Liliyana, who were the top seeded shuttlers in Mixed Doubles main draw of the tournament, played with precision and easily stamped their mark over their second seeded compatriots Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto in the title
match.
Tontowi and Liliyana have been showing their impressive craft at international level and they showed their domination in the home tournament as well.
The top seeds did not drop even a single set in the whole competition and won the crown in a lopsided fashion.
The top seeded Tontowi and Liliyana played good badminton in the final battle against their team-mates and won the match in straight games while consuming 34 minutes on court.
On the other hand, the lower ranked Rijal and Debby gave a good fight but could not stand tall against their experienced opponents and eventually lost the match without taking away any set.
In the first game, the second seeded Rijal and Debby played with tremendous control and precision on court as they showed aggression and managed to set up an 11-5 lead until the break.
After the mid-game interval, Tontowi and Liliyana started to turn things around as they played attacking badminton while controlling the rallies at net and managed to end up the difference by reaching at 17-17.
At this stage, Tontowi and Liliyana did not lose their focus and remained successful in scoring final points to grab the game with a 21-19 score on the board.
In the second set, both sides played at the same level and kept the pace of rallies high. The cracking sounds of powerful smashes and whips could be heard everywhere in the arena. They entertained the crowd while remaining neck-to-neck until the end of first
half.
After the break, Tontowi and Liliyana started to build lead by playing smart game at net and they remained successful in taking the set with a 21-14 score on the board.
The top seeded Tontowi and Liliyana stamped their mark over Rijal and Debby in the final fight with a reasonable margin of 21-19 and 21-14.
Tags: