Xin (F) Liu wins women’s singles crown after beating Ayane Kurihara in the German Open GP Gold 2011
The Chinese shuttler, Xin (F) Liu wins women’s singles crown by beating the in-form Ayane Kurihara of Japan, in final showdown of the German Open GP Gold 2011, yesterday on 6th March at Mulheim, Germany. The number five seed of the event, Xin,
consumed 58 minutes of hard struggle in the court to defeat the opponent in three games. The Chinese has won this title for the first time and she is confident to continue her winning run in the upcoming tournament All England Premier Super Series event, starting
from tomorrow on 8th March, at Birmingham, England.
The final was quite interesting for the viewers as the Japanese player was un-seeded in the event, but delivered a wonderful performance and booked her place in the final. In the opening game of the match, Xin established a decent lead against her opponent
till the interval where she was leading by 11-8 margin. After the interval, the Chinese never lost her control in the game and stretched her lead at 17-11. Kurihara, who crushed Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in the semi-final battle, could not play well in the
first set against the number five seed Chinese. Xin finished the opening set by a wonderful difference of 21-13 in just 17 minutes.
In the following set, Kurihara kept the pace high right from the starting points. She was leading by 11-8 till the one-minute interval. Xin tried to catch up the pace of the opponent but remained unsuccessful and lost four points in a row to remain behind
at 12-16. The Chinese became somewhat relaxed in the second game that spared an opportunity for Kurihara to come back in the match. The Japanese never lost his focus in the game and avoided unforced errors which earned him the second set by a good margin of
21-15. The crowd became crazy when the Japanese hit the final stroke of the set and leveled the match.
In the third and final set, Xin became quite aggressive from the start of the game. She never let the opponent dominate the game and remained ahead till the interval where she maintained a surprising 11-5 lead. The deep down the line smashes together with
the deceptive strokes at the net made the opponent quite helpless. After the interval, the number five seed continued her impressive run by dominating the rallies.
Kurihara tried to put the shuttle c**k low but Xin was perfect at the net. Her tumbling net strokes forced the Japanese to lift the bird high in the sir that gave the chance to the Chinese to hit smashes on the side lines of the court. Xin finished the game
by a stunning margin of 21-9. The final score of the 58-minute match was 21-13, 15-21 and 21-9.
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