US Open GP Gold: Kennevic Asuncion, Antonio Benjamin clutch a pre quarter-final seat
Men’s Doubles team Kennevic Asuncion-Antonio Benjamin Gadi ensured their presence in pre quarter-finals of Yonex OCBC US Open GPG after trouncing Phillip Chew-Sattawat Pongnairat on July 3, 2012.
This first round battle remained in full swing for 42 minutes before ending with 21-11, 20-22 and 21-8 after three exhausting sets.
The duo from the Philippines enthralled the opposing team in the opening and closing segments of the show and claimed the honour despite going down in the second set.
On the other hand, the Malaysian team displayed a fluctuating performance as they put commendable resistance in the middle but surrendered tamely in other two segments.
Kennevic Asuncion and Antonio Benjamin laid foundation of their authority straight away in first set when they established a five-point lead with 6-1 margin.
They carried this momentum in next couple of rallies and finished the first half with an indomitable total of 11-5.
Later part of the game saw them registering 15-8 in no time and this seven-point deficit proved too heavy for their challengers who could not rise until decisive figure of 11-21.
Next game proved the toughest part of whole contest as both contenders did not allow each other to gain a permanent advantage.
They remained toe-to-toe until game point situation but Phillip-Sattawat bagged this crucial set by a hair's breadth.
In first half, they were enjoying an upper hand with 7-4 score but couple of blunders weakened their grip. They managed to enter 11-9 margin before the announcement of one-minute break.
After the interval, the contenders from the Philippines came back with a strong reply and pushed their competitors on the back-foot with 16-14 but their supremacy was short lived.
The Malaysians reinstated their authority with a couple of nonstop rallies and finished this race with a tight yet decisive result of 22-20.
Conversely, they turned sitting ducks in the third set and Kennevic-Antonio hunted them down with great ease.
They launched a brisk attack and bagged the first half with 11-3 total and then magnified the impact by registering a staggering figure of 21-8.
Now they will lock horns either with Yu Hsien Lin-Chia-Hsin Wan or Yau Hwa Chan-Kyle Emerick in second round of the tournament.
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