Pranav Chopra, Akshay Dewalkar march into quarter-finals of Vietnam International Challenge
The Men’s doubles team of India Pranav Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar marched into quarter-finals of Ciputra Hanoi Vietnam International Challenge on March 29, 2012.
The partnership of Pranav-Akshay yielded the best results against Taipei couple Po Jui Huang-Chang Kai Liang in pre quarter-final tussle which prolonged to 40 minutes.
Final figures of 21-18, 17-21 and 21-6 remained in the Indian’s favour and set up a quarter-final clash with second seeded couple Gideon Markus Fernaldi-Agripinna Prima of Indonesia.
Fifth seeded couple Pranav-Akshay proved their authority over low ranked rivals Jui Huang-Kai Liang and earned great deal of admiration for their court craft in the three-set game.
Indians established an instant lead by grabbing first match point. They literally had to earn this win as their rivals kept on chasing them on the score board and made it a close call by resisting until the final game point.
Both teams could not establish a distinctive lead and remained toe-to-toe as the duo of Jui Huang and Kai Liang managed to score 18 points but the final leap of Pranav-Akshay on game point left them behind with 21-18 score on the board.
In following game, the Taipei pair stood full to their stature and successfully avoided a straight-set defeat.
This time Jui Huang-Kai Liang made fewer mistakes and masterly hit the empty spots in the court. Their performance was a blend of powerful attack and strong defence as they did not allow their rivals to exceed and forced them to surrender with four point’s
deficit.
After reading final figures of 21-17 at the end of second set, both teams were levelled with 1-1 match score.
The decider was supposed to be a tight contest but all predictions went wrong as the Taipei shuttlers proved sitting ducks and the Indian pair of Pranav-Akshay hunted them down with great ease.
The winning couple displayed their elevated craft in third set and outclassed their rivals in all areas of the game.
The twosome of Pranav-Akshay ensured its presence in top eight teams of the event by clinching the final match point with significant margin of 21-6 on the board.
Meanwhile, their compatriot duo of Arun Vishnu-Tarun Kona also made it into the quarter-finals of Vietnam International Challenge 2012.
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