US Open GP Gold: G. J. Watts dominates Matthew Chan to secure berth in second round
Men’s Singles expert G. J. Watts reserved his spot in second round of Yonex OCBC US Open GPG after beating Matthew Chan in the opening match on July 2, 2012.
This first round match lasted for 34 minutes and both shuttlers displayed prime skills while compiling final result of 21-15, 20-22 and 21-13.
The Orange County Badminton Club (OCBC) was full as a huge crowd was there to support the local campaigner.
Watts did not disappoint his supporters and gave them a reason to smile after grabbing opening and closing segments of the show.
On the other hand, Canadian shuttler could save his honour by winning second set with a close margin.
In first set of the match, the US campaigner made his intentions clear by launching an unbeatable attack.
He established an initial advantage of three points with 4-1 margin but could not carry this rhythm in next couple of rallies.
Both contenders remained close until 8-8 but Watts managed to end the first half with a respectable total of 11-10.
After the interval, he displayed impeccable craft and reached at dominating position of 18-13.
This five-point lead turned final blow to Mathew Chan and he surrendered after reading 15-21 score on the board.
However, he did not allow his challenger to pocket the second set in similar manner and put up great resistance to stay alive.
Though, the Canadian shuttler trailed behind all the way to half time but he managed to stop his rival from establishing a notable lead.
He ended first half with a tight margin of 10-11 and then levelled the score at 13-13. He did not drop this pace and bagged nine out of ending 15 points to put a decisive figure of 22-20.
Conversely, third set completely belonged to Watts who did not give his competitor even a single counter-attacking opportunity.
He set the ball rolling straight away in the beginning and bagged the first half with 11-3. He maintained the upper hand until last moment and swept the table with a distinctive total of 21-13.
Now he will face either Danish shuttler Christian Lind Thomsen or Taipei player Chia Hsin Wan in the second round of the event.
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