Eshan Naqvi and Ajit Wijetilek one step away from the main round of Australian Open GP Gold 2011
India’s Eshan Naqvi and Ajit Wijetilek are one step away from the main round as they won their opening qualifying round matches of the Australian Open GP Gold 2011, on April 5, in Melbourne. Naqvi got rid of Cham Chen of Australia in a three-set match that
took 33 minutes, whereas Ajit consumed only 22 minutes to brush aside the local shuttler, James Audley, in straight sets.
Naqvi was in a great flow at the start of the match as he was dictating the pace of the game. He was incredibly quick in his movement in all corners of the court and his net play was superb. Chen failed to break the pressure built by the Indian and eventually
lost the opening set with a big difference of 13-21, in just 9 minutes.
The Australian changed his tactics in the second game and started to keep the bird parallel. His tactics worked well, and gave him control over the rallies. Naqvi tried hard to play a positive game but failed as the opponent didn't give him a chance to settle
down. The Indian lost the second set with a margin of 17-21.
Stung by the loss of the second set, Naqvi played a fast game in the deciding set. Chen tried to continue the same game plan that earned him the previous set but failed as Naqvi played an attacking game from the start to the ending point of the game. He
won the final set by a 21-14 margin.
Another Indian shuttler, Ajit proved his worth against James in a rather one sided match. James had no answer to the perfect execution of Ajit's strokes and lost the first set in just 10 minutes with a 12-21 score on the board. The second set was quite identical
as the Indian continued his winning run and finished it up with the same margin of 21-12 in just 12 minutes.
In the next and the final qualifying-round matches, Naqvi will take on Joel Findlay of Australia, whereas Ajit will play against Marius Fartum of Norway.
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