Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov clinch Men’s Doubles title in Swedish International Stockholm
Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov have clinched Men’s Doubles title after toppling Nederland’s Jorrit De Ruiter and Dave Khodabux in the title match of Swedish International Stockholm 2012 on Sunday, January 22, at Stockholm, Sweden.
The second seeds of the tournament and World Number 22, Ivanov and Sozonov, proved their supremacy as they hammered the lower ranked Dutch shuttlers in an emphatic style.
The Russians played to their full potential and emerged as the winners by ending the final contest in straight games in just 27 minutes. With this victory, Ivanov and Sozonov have made their mark in the current year in style.
The higher ranked Ivanov and Sozonov played tremendous badminton in the opening rallies of the match and took an early lead of 6-1. However, they failed to maintain this lead as their rivals levelled the score by playing flawless badminton.
The score was 8-8 when Ivanov and Sozonov accelerated their speed and remained successful in getting a reasonable lead of 11-8 until the 60-second break in the first game.
After the break, Dutch shuttlers elevated their game and played fast badminton. They again managed to level the score by reaching 15-15.
At this crucial stage, Ivanov and Sozonov put everything they had in their play and took the set with a 21-16 score on the board.
In the second set, Ivanov and Sozonov showed no respect to their rivals and never let them dominate the game in the whole game. They played fast and parallel game and maintained pressure on their lower ranked opponents. Until the break, the Russians were
ahead at 11-4.
After the interval, Ivanov and Sozonov continued their impressive and flawless play. They pushed their Dutch challengers in all corners and did not let them to fight back in the game.
The Dutch pair tried to control the pace of rallies but failed to play positive badminton. On the other hand, Ivanov and Sozonov were flawless as they played controlled game and won the set with a stunning difference of 21-9.
Ivanov and Sozonov won the final battle in just 27 minutes with a convincing margin of 21-16 and 21-9.
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