Chethan Raj, Raghu M secure final round berth in Karnataka State Ranking Badminton Tournament
Boy’s Doubles event of the Belgaum 3 Star Karnataka State Ranking Badminton Tournament got another finalist pair as Chethan Raj-Raghu M cast out Likith Gowda-Vasishta Suresh on September 4, 2012.
This semi-final match prolonged to three exhausting sets before ending with decisive figures of 25-23, 12-21 and 21-17.
There was lot of drama in this hard fought tussle as the victorious duo established an early advantage, managed to slip in the middle and then locked the honour by winning the ending match point with distinction.
On the other hand, the third seeded Likith-Vasishta failed to forge a fruitful chemistry and crashed out of the second last round of the tournament.
The opening game saw both contenders putting all they had to pocket the first match point. They made the crowd gasp with a breath-taking performance.
In the first half of the set, Chethan and Raghu established their grip in no time and kept the opposing shuttlers at the lower end in preliminary rallies.
However, they could not go with the same flow and allowed their challengers to counter-balance the situation before half time.
The twosome of Likith and Vasishta did not squander this opportunity and added a few valuable points in the total.
They were enjoying the upper hand in the third quarter of the set when a couple of back-to-back mistakes brought them down.
Chethan and Raghu, who were placed at the second spot in tournament ranking, showed elevated craft and swept the table with a tight yet decisive margin of 25-23.
The suppressed duo Likith-Vasishta did not show any sign of confusion after this blow and stood tall in the following game.
This time they changed their tactics and played with an authoritative approach. They started the beating from very first stroke and ruled the court until the last shot was played.
They maintained an unconquerable lead of nine points and levelled the match score with a favourable result of 21-12.
Now both teams were equal with one win each and they were looking to bag the final match point to avoid a woeful exit.
The decider kept swinging between them until Chethan-Raghu placed a concluding figure of 21-17 and setup their next clash with Anish Upadhaye-Yash Lad in the final round of the event.
Tags: