Zulfadli Zulkifli fails to escape defeat from Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in Axiata Cup 2012
Malaysia’s talented shuttler Zulfadli Zulkifli, who is current Junior World and Asian Champion, could not live up to expectations and lost to experienced Indonesian shuttler Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the opening leg of semi-final showdown on Saturday, March
31, in Kuala Lumpur.
Zulfadli, representing Malaysia Leopards, was completely out of form as he could not put up even a meagre resistance against the young and talented Indonesian Rumbaka, who is currently World Number 23 in Men’s Singles category.
Rumbaka, who is playing from Indonesia Rajawali, did not face any trouble from his opponent in the whole battle and easily registered victory over his lower ranked Malaysian opponent.
Indonesia Rajawali won the first leg of team-event semi-final contest with a superb margin of 3-0 as they did not lose any fight to Malaysians.
Zulfadli was in all sorts of trouble while playing against Rumbaka who was too strong in the court.
The Malaysian could not control the pace of rallies and remained struggling to take the bird early throughout the contest.
On the other hand, Rumbaka was calm and focused in the game and he dictated the pace of rallies with a wonderful craft.
He put up spectacular show of top quality badminton in the opening set and bagged it with a tremendous margin of 21-11.
In the second game, Zulfadli gave up fighting against the Indonesian as he failed to play aggressive badminton and also committed many unforced mistakes.
In the meanwhile, Rumbaka continued his impressive play and remained successful in setting up an incredible lead until the end of opening half.
After the break, Zulfadli dropped his speed and was clearly lacking the finishing touch in his shots. He did not show any spirited display and lost the game in a completely one-sided fashion.
On the other hand, Rumbaka was on a different level as he tamed Zulfadli in the second game with a sensational 21-4 score on the board.
The Indonesian won this Men’s Singles battle quite easily with a remarkable margin of 21-11 and 21-4.
After the match, Zulfadli said, "This is one of my worst performances. I was not focused and couldn't get into rhythm at all. Rumbaka was a better player and he never gave me any chance to settle down."
However, the Malaysian is expected to get another immediate chance to play against Rumbaka as both teams will be up against each other in the second leg of semi-final today.
Tags: