Up'set' and interesting matches!

In a match dominated by mental toughness and unexpected skill flaunting, Aravind/Balliga (AB) team routed the Jeffrey/Nitin (JN) team by eight games to four. This was the most surprising upset in the tournament until now, since every one was expecting JN to win the match given their synergistic strengths! But what is a world without any surprises!

In another close encounter, Gopal/Harveen (GH) beat Neel/Suyog (NS) in a tiebreak, 8-7(4). I had never seen Gopal relaxing on the court while his partner was allowed to run through the corners of the court! Something dawns, and Gopal wakes up and the ball listens to him! :-) That just happened when the match score reached 7-7 and there was a loud announcement for a tiebreak from the umpire. That's it! The ball just listened to Gopal and the rest was history! :-)

Now that the battles lines for the quarterfinals are almost drawn, let us look at the players in the group:

Prem/Praveen

Consistent and powerful serves and a fierce forehand combines is the Prem's game! Winner of the 2005 championship, he is undoubtedly one of the finest players in the academy and lends himself to any kind of game, whether partner's or opponent's.

Praveen is one of those few players who act fast in reaching the ball on the court. Though a slow server for himself, his forehand sometimes bangs the opponents and catch them in the corners!

Jeffrey/Nitin

Jeffrey has one the greatest smashes I have ever seen, though he might at times be inconsistent with the forehand shots. Note to his opponents: Never ever lob for him, because whether it is a deep lob or a shallow one, he jumps with his racket talking the rest! :-)

Nitin is one of the best players in the academy and has powerful ground strokes. Watch his first serve which would definitely be a feast to the lovers of the game.

Gopal/Harveen

When I saw Gopal for the first time, I had not expected him to be a wonderful player of the game! It was one of the rarest moments when my subjective mind deceived me! :-) He is perceived as the best player in the academy with his variety of shots and top-spin serves!

Harveen, though started the game late, picked it up so fast to leave the opponents in distress with her sudden attack on the length of the court! Guys, please take note of the sweet spots on her racket which gives her shots a superb aura of beauty.

Aravind/Balliga

The slicing master, Aravind, though a powerful baseline hitter, is often inconsistent with his serves. Don't ever allow him to meet the ball in the correct action for his forehand!

Balliga has a very good movement in the court and has very good serves. Given that serves wins the matches, he is the potent winner!

Abhishek/Satish

Abhishek is one of the good players given his control on the shots and the spinning and powerful serves! He seems to be quite emotional at times during the games, but nothing stops him to turn the game from disaster!

Satish has a unique forehand action and his consistent and continuous returns, wherever the ball is, makes opponents sometimes frustrating, thus forcing them to make unforced errors.

(By providence or incidence, these two good players are now out of the tournament, since they lost matches in the times of mutual inconsistencies! I wish you guys a better luck next time!)

Neel/Suyog

Neel is high on mental toughness and self-motivation. I think, because of his unmatched unforced errors, coupled with slow coverage of the court, he started losing his points. But, given his fighting spirit, I am sure, he will make it to a better result next time!

Suyog reaches the ball in the court irrespective of its pitch in the court. One of the things his opponents need to note and act is his sudden change in the angle of forehand and lobs!