Wang Yihan wins the Women’s singles crown in the Badminton Asia Championships 2011
China’s Wang Yihan, has won the Women’s singles crown after beating team-mate, Lu Lan, in the final showdown of the Badminton Asia Championships 2011, being held in China, on April 24.
The World Number two and second seed of the event, Yihan, consumed 49 minutes to beat Lan in a straight-set fight.
Yihan, who did not drop a single set in the whole event, continued her winning run in the final of the event against her compatriot, Lu Lan. In the first game of the title match, both ladies remained toe-to-toe in the opening points of the game. The score
remained equal on 7-7, when the second seed accelerated the pace of the game and started to control the rallies.
Yihan managed to build a reasonable lead of 11-8 in the first half of the set. Lan tried to play positively, but failed to do so as her opponent was playing an attacking and accurate game. Yihan was hitting powerfully down the line and stretched the lead
in style. The un-seeded, Lan, remained helpless against the accurate smashes and lost the opening set by a 21-15 margin, in 22 minutes.
The second game was more thrilling as both players were playing positively, without hitting any risky strokes. The rallies were long as compared to the previous set and the score was tied on 10-10. Yihan executed a superb smash on the sideline of the court
and took a slight lead at 11-10, by the end of the first half of the second set.
After the 60-second rest, Lan changed her tactics and started to keep the bird low from the net, to break the aggressive flow of her opponent. The strategy worked well and she managed to level the score at 17-17.
Both the players were neck-to-neck at 21-21, in the most crucial stage of the match. Yihan then lifted her game and scored two consecutive points to win the set with a 23-21 margin, in 27 minutes. The concluding score of this final battle was, 21-15 and
23-21.
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