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发表于 2-11-2009 12:46 PM
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from The Star Newspaper
Monday November 2, 2009
Iskandar runs out of steam
STORIES by LOGANATH VELLOO
ISKANDAR Zulkarnain again failed to lift his game in the final of an individual event and went down to China’s top seed Tian Houwei in the World Junior Badminton Championships’ boys’ singles final at the Sultan Abdul Halim Indoor Stadium in Alor Setar last night.
Iskandar was beaten 12-21, 17-21 and it was the second time that he was beaten by the same opponent in a final. He also lost to Houwei in straight games at the Asian junior championships in Kuala Lumpur in July.
Last night, Iskandar failed to recapture the fighting form that brought him back from the brink of defeats to win in the previous three rounds.
He adopted a cautious approach and failed to trouble the Chinese player, who would have expected a stronger resistance from the Malaysian.
Second best again: Malaysia’s Iskandar Zulkarnain (right) posing with China’s boys’ singles champion Tian Houwei.
Before Iskandar could settle down and get his game going, Houwei had already raced to a 10-4 lead in the opening game.
The Malaysian closed the gap to 10-12 but he only managed to collect two more points as the Chinese shuttler trapped him repeatedly with overhead shots to win 21-12.
Iskandar put on a better effort in the second game and even led 6-3. But he was forced to concede a 17-21 defeat to the better player on the night.
“My defeat was not due to pressure but my inability to match my opponent. I was unable to cope with his fast pace,” said the second seeded Malaysian.
“Even when I quickened my pace in the second game, it resulted in too many mistakes. Houwei’s tactics prevented me from playing to the best of my ability tonight.”
Iskandar added that his physical condition after coming down with food poisoning also affected his chances against the top seed.
“I have to look forward now and work harder in training to prepare for future challenges,” he said.
Houwei attributed his victory to plenty of hard work in training and studying recordings of matches involving Iskandar.
“The win was not as easy as it looked because I had to work hard to prevent him from playing his normal game,” he said. “My coaches found two main weak points in Iskandar’s game – his slow recovery after serving and inability to make a proper overhead return. I managed to exploit these weaknesses today and everything just fell into place.’
With the win, Houwei maintained China’s supremacy in the event. China have produced all but one of the world junior boys’ singles champions. The only time they missed out was when South Korean Hong Ji-hoon triumphed on his home soil in 2006. |
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