Valeriy Atrashchenkov and Anna Kobceva win Mixed Doubles crown at the 2011 Bulgarian International
Ukraine’s spirited couple, Valeriy Atrashchenkov and Anna Kobceva went home swelling with pride as they won the Mixed Doubles crown at the 2011 Bulgarian International, in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday, October 9.
In the title match, the Ukrainian couple proved their mettle against England’s Gary Fox and Samantha Ward and won the fight in a hard-fought rubber-set encounter. Atrashchenkov and Kobceva played a planned and positive game in the whole match against their
experienced opponents and took 43 minutes of attacking badminton to overpower the duo.
In the opening game of the match, Atrashchenkov and Kobceva played with aggression which earned them an advantage over their defensive rivals. They controlled the rallies at the net and created opportunities to find lose returns and executed powerful smashes.
Until the break, the Ukrainian shuttlers were ahead at 11-9.
After the interval, the English duo tried to play attacking badminton but they failed to dominate the game as their challengers were employing strong defensive strokes. Atrashchenkov and Kobceva remained ahead by controlling the pace of the rallies and won
the game by a 21-18 score in 15 minutes.
The second game was the most interesting battle as both sides kept the pace high by playing with wonderful aggression. The English couple tried to dominate the rallies at the net and remained successful in pushing the Ukrainians on the back foot.
However, Atrashchenkov and Kobceva remained close until the ending points when they made some crucial mistakes and lost the second game with a tight difference of 19-21 in 16 minutes.
In the decider, Atrashchenkov and Kobceva employed everything to occupy the driving seat and remained successful in building up a wonderful lead of 11-7 in the opening part. The English couple completely failed to continue their positive run in the match
as their challengers were playing on a higher level of the game. Atrashchenkov and Kobceva finished the third set in remarkable manner with a big margin of 21-14 in just 12 minutes.
The final contest ended in three games with a 21-18, 19-21 and 21-14 score on the board.
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