Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei clinch Mixed Doubles title at the 2011 Hong Kong Open Super Series
China’s top players Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei have stamped their supremacy in the world of badminton as they have clinched the Mixed Doubles title after beating Denmark’s Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen in the final of the 2011 Hong Kong
Open Super Series, in Hong Kong, on Sunday, November 20.
The World Number One and top seeded couple of the event, Nan and Yunlei proved their mettle as they played tremendous badminton against the World Number three opponents, Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen. The Chinese couple worked really hard to beat the in-form
Danish duo in a thrilling three-set contest by taking 64 minutes in the court.
The Danish couple put up strong show of top quality badminton as they showed no mercy to their higher ranked Chinese opponents and took the first game with a good margin. However, the Chinese came back strongly to level the score by taking the second game.
They remained on the right track and also won the third game to claim the crown.
In the first set, Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen opened their campaign in a superb way as they remained positive and aggressive. The attacking play of the Danish couple helped them to maintain a wonderful pressure on their higher ranked opponents. They remained
in wonderful control of the game and pushed their rivals on the back foot throughout the first game. The Chinese duo failed to stop the aggressive progress of their opponent and lost the set with a margin of 15-21.
In the following set, both sides played aggressive game this time as the Chinese couple accelerated their speed and started to dictate the pace. However, both couples remained close until the game entered into the concluding phase when the Chinese played
smartly and took the set with a 21-17 score on the board.
In the deciding game, the Danish shuttlers tried to take an early lead by playing fast badminton but failed to break the momentum of their opponents. The Chinese duo continued playing aggressive and positive badminton and consequently won the set with a
margin of 21-17. The final score of this title-match was 15-21, 21-17 and 21-17.
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