Wenlong Zhou ends Robin Gonansa’s winning run in quarter-final of the Russian Open Grand Prix
China’s Wenlong Zhou ended the winning run of Singapore’s Robin Gonansa, by beating him in the Men’s Singles quarter-final of the Russian Open Grand Prix 2011, in Russia, on Friday, July 1.
Wenlong opened his campaign in the quarter-final match in a remarkable manner, as he finished the encounter in two sets. The Chinese took only 29 minutes to brush aside Gonansa, who made an upset in the second round of the event, where he defeated World
Number 41 and top seed of the event, Ville Lang of Finland.
The Chinese shuttler started the opening game in authoritative fashion, as he played fast by employing net shots, strong pushes and powerful down the line jump smashes. His quick movement put his opponent under extreme pressure, as Gonansa found himself
completely helpless against the firing Chinese.
The Chinese pushed the score with great pace in the first game without any interruption from his rival. Until the one-minute interval, Wenlong was in complete control of the game by reaching at 11-5.
After the 60-second break, Wenlong kept the same strategy going against Gonansa, who failed to cope up with the pace of his challenger. The Chinese shuttler clinched the first game with a dramatic score of 21-9, in just 13 minutes.
In the following set, Gonansa accelerated his speed in the starting points, but became slow as his opponent was quicker in picking the bird from all corners of his court. The speed of Wenlong in the front court area and the variety in his defence put Gonansa
under huge pressure, as he failed to find gaps for smashes.
Wenlong continued playing impressive badminton throughout the second set, as was performing to his full potential. His hand-eye coordination was superb, which earned him a much needed win in the second game with a big margin of 21-12, in 16 minutes. The
straight-set match ended in 29 minutes, with a 21-9 and 21-12 margin.
In the semi-final, Wenlong will be up against another Singaporean, Zi Liang Derek Wong, who defeated China’s Qiao Bin in the quarter-final of the event.
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