Ivan Sozonov, Irina Hlebko power their way into second round of 2013 Russian National Championships
Mixed Doubles partners Ivan Sozonov and Irina Hlebko played with great precision in the opening round of Russian National Championships and marched into pre quarter-finals on January 29, 2013.
They locked horns with a compatriot duo Gregory Vorobyov-Anastasia Nazarchuk and sealed a splendid victory with a decisive result of 21-15 and 21-5.
This short-lived tussle was staged at the local badminton arena of Saratov and a decent number of spectators gathered to encourage both teams.
The twosome of Ivan and Irina registered its presence by wrapping this showdown in just two games.
Meanwhile, the higher ranked Russian campaigners Gregory and Anastasia failed to forge a fruitful chemistry and crashed out in a disgraceful manner.
In the opening game, both pairs started with couple of gruelling rallies and made the crowd gasp. They did not allow each other to gain an early advantage.
However, Ivan and Irina did not take much time to get on right track. They bagged couple of valuable points in a row and made a significant difference on the points table.
This powerful campaign helped them to pile up a decent total of 11 before the one-minute break. They capitalised this lead in latter part of the game and kept the opposing shuttlers busy just in returning their masterly crafted strokes.
Though, Gregory and Anastasia made every effort to counterbalance the situation but they could not end their challengers’ rule on the court.
On the other hand, Ivan and Irina showed consistency in their performance and registered a winning margin of 21-15.
The following game was completely dominated by the spirited Russian duo Ivan-Irina who did not give the opposing team even a single chance to comeback.
They laid foundation of their supremacy from very stroke and enjoyed that authority until last shot was played.
Their unstoppable series of power packed strokes helped them to establish an unassailable lead immediately in the beginning.
They mounted pressure by piling up a mountainous figure of 11 in no time and then magnified the impact by placing an overwhelming score of 21-5.
With this win, Ivan and Irina setup their pre quarter-final clash with another compatriot pair Vadim Itskov-Catherine Kut.
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