Xue Song stuns Tien Minh Nguyen in quarter-final round of 2013 Australian Open
China’s young but spirited shuttler Xue Song remained invincible in the quarter-final round and earned a spot in the semi-finals of Yonex Australian Badminton Open on Friday, April 5, 2013.
This crucial encounter saw him swinging arms against the experienced campaigner Tien Minh Nguyen. This short-lived but hard fought battle prolonged to 38 minutes before ending with decisive figures of 21-15 and 21-10.
The Chinese player raised his chances of success by winning the opening match point and then served notice of his dominance also in the second set.
On the other hand, Tien Minh failed to revive his lost form and crashed out of this event in a disgraceful manner.
In first set of match, the Vietnamese shuttler enjoyed an upper hand in the establishing rallies but his supremacy was short-lived as his competitor turned the tables with a strong backlash.
Xue Song, who was underrated earlier in this tournament, amazed everyone with his commendable fighting spirit.
At first he levelled the score and then gained a decent advantage on points table before the announcement of break.
After the mid-game break, the Chinese lad showed great maturity in his craft and did not allow his seasoned opponent to comeback.
He prevailed in few consecutive rallies and strengthened his grip over game in third quarter of the set. He did not lose focus in the final stage and wrapped this segment of showdown with a favourable score of 21-15.
The following game was a nightmare for Tien Minh as he could not come out of his rival’s influence throughout this crucial set and bid adieu to the tournament.
Things went out of control straight away in the beginning as Xue Song unleashed a flurry of productive strokes and established an unassailable lead.
He capitalised this initial advantage and piled up a mountainous figure of 11 before the half time. Latter part of the game was also dominated by the Chinese shuttler as he did not make even a single mistake and maintained a significant difference on the
points table.
He swept the table with an overwhelming total of 21-10 and qualified for the semi-final round of Australian Open.
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