Auckland International: Tom Armstrong and Tracey Hallam stun top seeds to clinch Mixed Doubles title
England’s Tom Armstrong and Tracey Hallam defied all odds to clinch Mixed Doubles title after beating their higher ranked challengers Luke Chong and Victoria Na of Australia in the final encounter at SOTX Auckland International 2012 on Sunday, June 24, in New Zealand.
The un-seeded Armstrong and Hallam, who were underdogs in the title match, showed their staggering skills and overpowered top seeds Luke and Victoria in a lopsided fashion.
Lower ranked Armstrong and Hallam were in tremendous form while playing against their Australian opponents and thrashed them in a completely one-sided manner in straight games by taking just 21 minutes in the court.
Top seeded Luke and Victoria, who have been impressive throughout the competition, could not stretch their winning streak in the final against their English opponents and lost the battle in two sets without putting up any resistance at all.
Right from the opening points, Armstrong and Hallam were in full control of rallies as they did not let their rivals to get a good flow and took a wonderful lead until the mid-game interval.
After the one-minute break, the English coupled continued dominating the pace and maintained some huge pressure on the Australian shuttlers.
Armstrong and Hallam were in remarkable form in opening game of the title match and they won it with a striking 21-11 score on the board.
In the second game, the top seeds tried to play with aggression in order to match the speed of their rivals but failed to shake the confidence of Armstrong and Hallam who were calm and composed on the court.
The English shuttlers were having an impressive touch in their shots and they managed to take a superb lead until the break.
After the interval, Armstrong and Hallam continued their attacking play without slowing down their speed. They were impressive in taking the bird early and easily grabbed the second game with a one-sided score of 21-7.
The lower ranked Armstrong and Hallam won the Mixed Doubles title by finishing off the final match in two games with an inspiring 21-11 and 21-7 score on the board.
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