Victorian International 2012: Chieh Tai, Cheng Lai smack Van Pham, Andrew Surman in first round
Mixed Doubles team Ching Chieh Tai-Chien Cheng Lai outshined Van Pham-Andrew Surman to surge into the second round of Li Ning Victorian International on Thursday, June 28, 2012.
This first round match prolonged to three gruelling sets and both contenders put up a great fight to read final result of 21-17, 14-21 and 21-18.
The Taipei duo sealed a 2-1 victory and setup a pre quarter-final encounter with Australian pair Eugenia Tanaka-Raymond Tam.
Meanwhile, the opposing team proved an abysmal chaser and surrendered after a futile exercise of 36 minutes.
Chieh Tai and Cheng Lai started hammering their opponents from the very first game and kept on dictating all the way to final set.
In opening game of match, they opened the marathon with swift progress straight away in the beginning and gained a decent advantage of four points in 6-2 total.
They continued with same momentum until 10-5 but couple of unforced errors weakened their grip over the game.
The Australian campaigners Van Pham and Andrew Surman managed to narrow the gap with 10-11 margin before interval.
However, the Taipei shuttlers regained control by exhibiting commendable fighting spirit in later part of the game. They bagged 10 out of last 16 points and finished first set with 21-17 score on the board.
Next game brought life back into the match as Van Pham and Andrew Surman ensured that they were not bogged down completely.
This time they were not lazy and kept on leading their competitors in this race for glory. They had to play with a cautious approach in the start but soon they were attacking fearlessly on their superior rivals.
They were trailing behind until 7-9 but couple of uninterrupted rallies helped them to get into commanding position of 11-9 before half-time.
After mid-game break, there were lot of scoring opportunities for them and they did not squander these chances to put decisive figure of 21-14.
The decider was toughest part of this battle as both teams matched each other’s skills to avoid a woeful defeat.
They remained fiercely competitive until 18-17 but the Taipei couple stole the limelight by registering a 21-18 margin.
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