Uganda International Badminton Championships: Niluka Karunaratne nails Men’s Singles title
Sri Lanka’s top shuttler, Niluka Karunaratne, finally got the much needed breakthrough as he nailed Men’s Singles title after beating Wisnu Haryo Putro of Italy in the final showdown of Uganda International Badminton Championships 2012, in Uganda, on Sunday, February 5.
The World Number 69 Karunaratne, who has been desperately looking for a title to find his momentum back, delivered a sensational performance throughout the Uganda International and won the crown in fabulous fashion.
Karunaratne, who was third seed in Men’s Singles draw, played controlled badminton in the final contest and won it in straight games without showing any mercy to his un-seeded opponent.
The Italian could not cope up with the pace of rallies in the whole final clash and bowed down to his higher ranked rival in 40 minutes.
In the opening rallies of first game, both men showed their spirited play and kept the pace of game at the highest level. They did not drop their speed and took the bird early from all corners of the court.
The score was close in the first few rallies but Putro started to slow down his speed while his rival did not. Karunaratne injected more power in his strokes and took a wonderful advantage until the break in first game.
After the break, the higher ranked Sri Lankan played to his maximum speed and continued his power play against the nervous Putro, who failed to match the pace of rallies.
Karunaratne ended the first game in a striking fashion by putting up 21-11 score on the board.
In the second game, Putro showed that he had what was required to challenge his higher ranked opponent as he played with precision and remained close to Karunaratne until the one-minute break.
After the break, the score progressed without giving advantage to any shuttler. At the concluding phase of the second game, Karunaratne played remarkable badminton at net and forced his rival to execute weak returns.
This strategy worked for Karunaratne, who ended the second set with a decent difference of 21-18. The overall score of this 40-minute Men’s Singles title contest was 21-11 and 21-18.
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