Tontowi Ahmad, Liliyana Natsir surge into pre quarter-final round of 2012 China Open
Mixed Doubles experts Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir forged a fruitful chemistry and marched into the second round of Li Ning China Open on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
They cast out Songphon Anugritayawon-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul by sealing a straight-set victory with 21-10 and 21-14 margin.
This 24-minute encounter took place in Shanghai and the Indonesian campaigners qualified for the pre quarter-final round where they will be up against Ki Jung Kim-So Young Kim of Korea.
World Number three duo, who is also third seeded team in this tournament, has elevated their chances with an emphatic start.
In the opening match, Tontowi and Liliyana showed superb coordination and cornered the opposing pair in all departments of the game.
They set the foundation of their dominance by clinching the opening match point and then magnified the impact with a splendid win in the second set.
Meanwhile, the lower ranked Thai challengers failed to employ an effective counter-attack strategy and knelt down tamely.
The twosome of Songphon and Kunchala let many valuable points slip from their hands immediately in the beginning and allowed their competitors to gain an early advantage.
Tontowi and Liliyana mounted pressure with 5-1 total and then doubled the impact by piling up an indomitable figure of 11-5.
After the mid-game break, they gathered some pace and left their rivals far behind with a significant margin of 15-7.
They played with similar precision in the final stage and bagged this vital match point with a staggering knock of 21-10.
The following game was filled with lot of drama as the Thai shuttlers were in a strong position at one stage but then the Indonesian players employed all of their brilliance and saved the honour.
Initially, Songphon and Kunchala prevailed in few uninterrupted rallies and got into commanding position with 6-2 total.
However, they could not withstand the strong backlash of the opposing team and surrendered in the pressure situation.
Tontowi and Liliyana levelled the score at 9-9 and then made a significant difference with a respectable figure of 17-10.
They maintained this seven-point lead all the way to game point situation and swept the table with 21-14 margin.
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