Duo of Rupesh Kumar, Sanave Thomas lose pre quarter-final match in Swiss Open
It was a wrap for India in the Men’s doubles event as their duo Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas lost their second round match against Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida from Indonesia in Swiss Open on March 15, 2012.
The Indian pair also had to bid farewell to the event after losing with a decisive score 21-16, 11-21 and 21-14 against Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida, who set up a quarter-final with Goh V Shem-Kok Siang of Malaysia.
The current World Number 27 pair, who has came three steps down in the rankings, Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas could not perform beyond expectations as they were already tagged as a weak competition to the World Number ten duos Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida.
The Indonesians established their grip over match from the very first set when they knocked out their opponents with an impressive score of 21-16 on the board.
The fifth seeded duo faltered at some points which allowed their rivals to put a reasonable margin of 16 points in score log but still it was not enough to unseat Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida in the opening game as they clinched the first match point having
a five point lead on the board.
However, the Men’s doubles team Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas put a decent fight to bounce back in the following set. They turned the tables by registering a significant total of 21-11 in their favour.
The Indian couple displayed all the skills they had and successfully prevented their rivals from raising the 1-0 lead to a decisive 2-0 match score.
Their fearless knock brought the match to right balance as both teams were levelled at 1-1 match score position.
However, it was smooth sailing for the Indonesian team as they swept the table in the decider. They did not allow their rivals to stand in front of them and the losing contestants Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas had to kneel down when score board flashed the
final figure of 21-14 at end of the third set.
This blow was the last nail in the coffin as it buried the sole Men’s doubles hope of India and now the people back home are hoping the female shuttler Saina Nehwal, the only survivor from squad, to send back some good news from the event.
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