Story by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports. Photos by Matthew Lau and Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports
Danny Bawa Chrisnanta (SIN) smashes. (Photo 1 © Matthew Lau/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Friday, April 11, 2014 — National shuttlers Vanessa Neo and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta went down 0–2 (12–21, 20–22) against China’s Bao Yixin and Liu Cheng in the quarter-final of the 2014 OUE Singapore Open.
Vanessa and Danny found no answer to the Chinese pair as the latter put up a strong offensive display to take the first set with a score of 21–12.
The Singaporean duo had a strong start in the second set, as they controlled the rallies to their advantage to force mistakes from their Chinese counterparts. The Chinese pair quickly adapted and continued to set up powerful drives against the Singaporeans. The Singaporeans regrouped during the interval and reclaimed their lead through excellent defensive plays. Undaunted, the Chinese forced a deuce and eventually sealed the second set with a score of 22–20 through a finishing smash from Liu Cheng.
Danny commented, “They managed to control the game, forcing us to constantly defend. It was wasted in the second set. When we were leading, I made a lot of simple mistakes, which made a big difference and made it easier for them to play against us. The opponents were stronger, and we came under pressure when they kept pushing us.”
“They are definitely faster and more powerful than us. We had to change our game plan to slow down the game instead of doing more drives. I’m quite happy that we were able to reach the quarter-finals, because it is our first time. But of course, I am quite disappointed that we lost today because the second set was very wasted. We were leading but we just could not capitalize. Hopefully we will be able to do better in the upcoming tournaments in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,” added Vanessa.
With the loss, Vanessa and Danny did not qualify for the semi-finals of the 2014 OUE Singapore Open.
Scoring by Set
CHN vs SIN
1st set: 21–12
2nd set: 22–20
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