Women’s singles top half segment illustrates more talking point with fascinating component, the megastar Pusarla Sindhu got unexpected outing at home turf, ousted by the aggressive Kathethong, THA 5th ranked shuttler who disconcerted the Indian frequently based on their head to head stats. On the contrary, the struggled Nehwal display high spirited showcase to eliminate Blichfeldt in very close contest that saw former world number one comeback from behind in thrilling final game. Okuhara tasted premature exit in two consecutive weeks to meet strong contestant in very first round, this time Marin.
Some interesting MS matches that seized attention yesterday, Anthony Ginting made scary escape in tight battle to pass Lu GZ who reached career high, being one of top-10 chart in latest BWF WR update. It’s combination of Ginting inconsistency disease to drop easy point and the Chinese capability to study and read well his opponent pattern correctly. This match ended in identical scoreline, 21-19 / 19-21 / 21-19.
Lee ZJ nearly choked in second game, luckily the Malaysian could avoid the blunder to out from dire situation and got more confident to wrap up final game, Vito style of play doesn’t quite suit him. Naraoka endurance evaporates, physically tired obviously in second and third game that translated into careless shots and slow movement against Loh KY. What a bad draw for this exuberant young man to face top 8 players in back to back tournament round one, once again the absurdity to apply obsolete seeding date contribute this condition, world #6 & 7 faced off directly.
The Olympic Champion constructed unthinkable comeback, 5-14 down to win 21-19, what a big blow by Srikanth to derail such comfortable lead as his focus dispersed. The mighty Dane practically got trouble in second game, slightly inaccurate while home fave played much better, unfortunately faltered at the end. Looks like Indian players pose difficult and challenging task for Axelsen, Prannoy and Sen beat him last year.
*Taken from BWF news
“Still can’t believe I could win this match,” said Axelsen. “I didn’t feel good at all; in the second game he stepped up and suddenly locked me in. It was really surprising. However, I’m happy I managed to win in straight games. It’s not easy to come from a hot, humid country to a rather cold New Delhi, so I’m just trying to adapt in the best way possible.
“Overall, physically I haven’t recovered from last week yet; but now I have some more hours for tomorrow’s match, so I’m trying to recover in the best way possible.”
“I think overall I played well, but I couldn’t finish a few points,” said Kidambi. “Lot of positives to take from it. If you’re playing at the highest level, you should be there until you finish the game. He came back really well. After 14 or 15 in the second, it was about being there till the end, but I made too many mistakes and gave him the opportunities.”
.
