US Open 2012: Tony Gunawan, Vita Marissa become finalists of Mixed Doubles event – Badminton News
Mixed Doubles team Tony Gunawan-Vita Marissa remained invincible in the semi-final round of Yonex OCBC US Open GPG as they clutched a berth in the title match at Los Angeles on July 6, 2012.
They overpowered local shuttlers Howard Bach and Eva Lee in just two games with an overwhelming result of 21-13 and 21-7.
The Orange County Badminton Club (OCBC) was jam-packed as a huge number of badminton lovers gathered to support the native shuttlers.
However, it was a quick wrap as local team could not resist for long and fell face down after 21 minutes.
Tony Gunawan and Vita Marissa, who were underrated earlier in this tournament, continued their stunning run and sealed a straight-set win.
They laid the foundation for their victory in the very first set as they left the opposing team far behind with a distinctive eight-point lead.
In first half, they were bit confused but found the lost chemistry with couple of fruitful rallies. They gathered five consecutive points after 4-6 score position and carried this momentum all the way to 11-9 before half time.
Howard Bach and Eva Lee strived hard to proceed immediately after the interval but the opposing team proved that their defence was as good as their attack.
They raised the total to 14-10 and then struck hard by prevailing in five rallies. They finished the opening game with a decisive figure of 21-13.
Tony and Vita, who belong to USA and Indonesia respectively, showed remarkable coordination in the second set as they outclassed their challengers in an even more impressive manner.
They dominated overall pace of the game and did not falter at any stage. They started beating right from the beginning and placed 7-1 margin.
Though, the US shuttlers geared up and narrowed the gap at 9-6 but they could not go with the same flow and lost six points in a row.
Tony and Vita did not show mercy in final moments of the game and stamped their rivals with six uninterrupted rallies after 15-6.
They snatched 12 out of the last 13 points to enter 21-7 score and setup a final clash with Kenichi Hayakawa-Misaki Matsutomo of Japan.
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