Tontowi Ahmad, Liliyana Natsir remain invincible in Mixed Doubles semi-finals of 2012 Denmark Open
Indonesia’s prime Mixed Doubles team Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir proved their worth in the semi-final round and qualified for the title match of Yonex Denmark Open on October 20, 2012.
They stamped Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei in their race to glory and gave a strong statement by claiming a straight-set victory with 21-12 and 21-17 margin.
This 36-minute match was played in Odense, Denmark and a decent number of badminton lovers gathered to enjoy this clash of titans.
However, they could not enjoy a real contest as the Chinese duo surrendered tamely in both games.
World Number four pair Tontowi-Liliyana played their heart out and kept their higher ranked rivals under control from very stroke to the last one.
They took a slow start in the first set and allowed the opposing team to stay close on the points table but later part of the game saw them making swift progress and wrapping the showdown in a favourable manner.
Both Indonesian campaigners played cautiously in the beginning and gradually raised their total to 7-5 but then couple of unforced errors brought them down.
They kept struggling to reinstate their dominance until half time but failed to make a notable difference.
However, second half proved the most productive part of the game as they prevailed in few consecutive rallies and placed an indomitable total of 15-10.
This deficit proved too heavy for Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei as they could not lift the burden and knelt down after reading 12-21 score on the board.
The following game was also played in similar fashion as both teams chased each other all the way to final moments and match kept swinging between them until game point situation.
In first half of the set, Tontowi and Liliyana established a decent lead with 6-3 margin but they could not mount pressure in the next couple of rallies.
The Chinese shuttlers gathered few valuable points at steady pace and narrowed the gap before one-minute interval.
Later part of the game remained interesting until 17-15 as the Indonesian couple ruled the court in final stage and survived this battle with a decisive figure of 21-17.
Now they will face World Number one team Xu Chen-Ma Jin in the grand finale of this tournament.
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