Australian Closed Championships: Pre quarter-final round entry for Cham Chen, Buddhima Fernando
The in-form Mixed Doubles duo Cham Chen-Buddhima Fernando continued their unbeatable run in 2012 Australian Closed Championships Sydney and advanced into pre quarter-finals on August 29, 2012.
They intercepted Rowan Henderson-Leesa Grundy in second round of the championships and setup next clash with another spirited pair Stuart Rowlands-Talia Saunders.
Cham and Buddhima, who were underrated earlier in this event, registered their presence by claiming their second consecutive victory with final result of 19-21, 26-24 and 21-17.
This hard fought battle kept both contenders head-to-head for 32 minutes and the audience applauded this commendable show of skills.
The victorious team came back from a horrendous start and saved the honour by ruling the court in the last two games.
In the opening game, Rowan and Leesa enjoyed the upper hand all the way to game point situation.
They established an early advantage with some productive rallies in a row and then capitalised their position by piling up a mountainous figure of 11 before the interval.
Though, they lost their grip in the later part of the game and allowed their challengers to bounce back but a couple of successive points in the final moments helped them finish the first set with a favourable margin of 21-19.
However, real challenge was waiting for them in the following game as the opposing team showed a transformed character and made this a memorable contest.
The twosome of Cham and Buddhima did not show any sign of bewilderment after their first set loss and played with great conviction.
They were a bit cautious in the beginning but launched a furious attack immediately after some opening rallies.
They proceeded without any interruption until half time and put a decent total of 11 on the points table.
After mid-game break, Rowan and Leesa also geared themselves up and caught their competitors in the third quarter of the set.
Both teams remained close until game point situation and this competitive match-up ended when Cham-Buddhima placed a tight yet decisive margin of 26-24.
The decider became consequential with this development but Cham and Buddhima forged a fruitful chemistry to cast out their challengers.
They never lost their grip and sealed a splendid win with score-board flashing 21-17 total in their favour.
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