Wenlong Zhou thrashes Zi Liang Derek Wong in Men’s Singles semi-final of the Russian Open Grand Prix
China’s Wenlong Zhou booked his berth in the final after beating Singapore’s Zi Liang Derek Wong, in the Men's Singles semi-final of the 2011 Russian Open Grand Prix, in Russia, on Saturday, July 2.
The Chinese, who has been delivering a tremendous performance in the round matches of the Russian Open, continued his remarkable run in the semi-final encounter, as he stunned the fourth seed Singaporean.
Derek Wong was the favourite on paper for this semi-final contest, as he has been doing well in the tournament so far. The match started in an interesting fashion, where both shuttlers employed their maximum speed to pick the shuttlecock early and get an
upper hand in the game.
Until the interval, no shuttler could manage a comfortable position in the match, as the score was quite close. After the break, Wenlong accelerated his speed and started to dominate at the net by playing tumbling shots. The change in strategy worked well
for the Chinese and he was successful in earning points in the ending phase of the set. He finished up the game by a margin of 21-18, in 19 minutes.
In the second game, World Number 52, Derek Wong, geared up his speed in the match by becoming aggressive in his approach. He started to execute smashes even from wrong angles, which created more trouble for him as many shots landed outside the lines. He
was behind the Chinese at 8-11, in the first-half of the game.
After the break, the talented Chinese employed a few straight to the body smashes, followed by deceptive pushes from the net. The tactics earned him a comfortable lead and eventually helped him in clinching the set by a score of 21-18, in 17 minutes. Wenlong
emerged as the winner in the 36-minute straight-game match, with a decent margin of 21-18 and 21-18.
In the Men’s Singles title-match, Wenlong is set to play against his team-mate, Tian Houwei, who overwhelmed Lithuania’s Kestutis Navickas, in the other semi-final showdown of the event.
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