Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir secure Mixed Doubles title at India Open Super Series 2012
Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir continued their impressive performance as they secured Mixed Doubles title at the India Open Super Series 2012, which ended on Sunday, April 29, at New Delhi, India.
In the final encounter, Tontowi and Liliyana overpowered Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand after putting up superb show of attacking badminton.
The World Number 3 Tontowi and Liliyana, who were seeded at number 2 in the Mixed Doubles category in India Open, proved their elevated skills and won the contest against the fifth seeded Sudket and Saralee.
Tontowi and Liliyana continued their winning streak as it was their fourth title in the opening four months of current year.
The Indonesia couple played tremendous badminton on the final day of India open and remained successful in winning the title by beating their rivals in three games.
On the other hand, Sudket and Saralee put up good show as they played to their maximum potential but failed to live up to expectations in the deciding game and lost the contest with a decent score on the board.
In the first game, both sides played attacking badminton while remaining positive in the game and reached at the end of opening half without taking any considerable lead.
After the break, Tontowi and Liliyana started to dictate the pace by controlling the bird at net and remained successful in winning the opening game with a decent score of 21-16.
In the second game, Sudket and Saralee showed their brilliance when they controlled the affairs from the opening points.
Thai shuttlers were leading the game with a comfortable margin until the one-minute break.
After the interval, Tontowi and Liliyana tried to stop the aggressive run of their opponents but failed to control the rallies and lost the game with a one-sided 12-21 margin on the board.
In the deciding set, both couples played remarkable game while remaining aggressive and positive in the court.
Until the mid-game interval, the Indonesians were slightly ahead of their Thai challengers on the board.
After the interval, Tontowi and Liliyana changed their strategy and worked well at net. These tactics worked really well in their favour and they managed to win the game with a 21-14 score on the board.
Tontowi and Liliyana bagged the Mixed Doubles crown by beating their Thai rival in the final contest with a decent score of 21-16, 12-21 and 21-14.
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