Day Ten

HunFord Open Day 10, witnessed two semifinals being played at Bridford.

In the first match, Ajeet and Vinayak were up against Raj and Sampath for second semifinal for event 1. Raj and Sampath already being tipped as favourites for their aggressive game, displayed their intense tennis on court and were up 4 – 0 in no time as they broke both Vinayak and Ajeet’s serve. However, Ajeet and Vinayak were not bowing out too easily and showed some movements in the court. There were some cracking smashes from Ajeet at net, one of which saw the ball rebounding from the turf and sailing over the court to the pond and some good returns from Vinayak. However they were unable to withstand the fast and furious serves of Raj and some intelligent winners being hit by Sampath. This ensured that Raj and Sampath now face Kanchan and Nishanth in finals for the event 1 as they one the match by 6 – 2.

The second match saw Apurva and Vinu, D1, up against Prajeet and Shaunak, C1. As was expected the crowd was witness to some amazing cross court rallies and some cheeky shots being played at nets. Vinu and Apurva were quick to grab some offerings offered by Shaunak and Prajeet taking a 3 – 1 lead. However Shaunak and Prajeet quickly bounced back and soon the scores were level at 3 – 3. But some unforced errors from Prajeet and few shots of Shaunak not crossing the net again saw Vinu and Apurva take lead. Where there were few chances at net which Apurva converted to points, Vinu was showing an amazing baseline game covering the entire baseline and hitting some furious shots. Finally Shaunak and Prajeet ran out of fuel and lost the match to Vinu and Apurva by 8 – 6. So there we also have the first finalist for event 2.

Final Scores :
Raj / Sampath bt Ajeet / Vinayak : 6 – 2
Vinu / Apurva bt Shaunak / Prajeet : 8 – 6

Story and Pictures by Ajeet and Mani.

Day Nine

The long wait was over in HunFord Open Day 9, when finally this seasons knockout round i.e. semis commenced. Day 9 saw A1 – Soppin / Harpal – face to face with B2 – Kanchan / Nishanth. Where Soppin / Harpal showed a tremendous comeback after their defeat in second league match to top their group, high hopes were on Kanchan and Nishanth as well who have showed an amazing class throughout the tournament. But in this game we saw another aspect of game in Kanchan and Nishanth’s game where they played aggressive tennis not giving any opportunity to Soppin / Harpal. Some unforced errors from Harpal saw Kanchan and Nishanth first taking a leading and then extending it to 4 – 1. Soppin however was at his best trying to pull out the match in his favours by winning one more game and giving tough fight to Kanchan and Nishanth. However in the end Kanchan / Nishanth prevailed over Soppin and Harpal by 6 – 2 becoming the first finalist for Event 1.

Final Scores :
Kanchan / Nishanth by Soppin / Harpal : 6 – 2

Story and pitcture by Ajeet and Mani.

Day Eight

HunFord Open Day 8 was a big day for group B which had not given a clear picture as to which teams were going to make it to semis.

In first match, Nishanth and Kanchan were up against Rajesh and Malini. Nishanth and Kanchan only have one victory from their previous two encounters. They need to win this one for brightening their chances to make to semis. They were quick to convert the available opportunities and take lead quickly. However Rajesh showed some really good fight, backing up Malini very well, making some really amazing shots which were applauded not only by spectators but also by their opponents. However this was shortlived as Nishanth & Kanchan quickly wrapped them up, winning by 6 – 2. Full credit to the teams and the organizers for holding their patience as rain interrupted the match twice, but still they went on with the game to ensure that the matches are completed well within the planned timeframe.

With two victories in their kitty Raj and Sampath have virtually made it to the semis. However a big defeat at hands of their opponents Rebecca and Akhil can see them out of competition and making way for Rebecca and Akhil who have won one match in their league matches till now. But Raj and Sampath had other plans. Some really fast serves from Raj and good winners from Sampath saw them taking a very early lead. Adding to this, they received some support from their opponents who provided them few chances as well as made some unforced errors. This helped Raj and Sampath to win this encounter 6 – 1 and sealing the berth in semis by topping the table in their group. This also ensure that Kanchan / Nishanth also sealed their semifinal berth being second in their group.

Final Scores :
Raj / Sampath bt Rebecca / Akhil : 6 – 1
Kanchan / Nishanth by Rajesh / Malini : 6 – 2

Story and picture by Ajeet and Mani.

Match Summary (Day 7)

Day Seven

Boy!!! That was some tennis action on Friday!!! With 6 teams’ semi-final hopes clinging on to their respective games, we witnessed some nail biting tennis on Day 7 of HunFord Open 2010. This was the penultimate day of the Round Robin games in this year’s event, and by the end of the day’s action everyone was panting for breath having seen 3 great games of tennis!!!

The Day Opener:
The first match saw Group D teams Mayank-Noble and Adi-Sonu facing each other in the do-or-die situation. The equation was such that Vinu-Apurva from this Group had already made it to the semifinals, and whosoever wins this game would be through to the semis as well. The game started with a bang with Mayank serving his trademark zooming and bouncing serves and winning the first game. However Adi struck back with equally good serves and took the score to 1 game each. After this game it was Noble’s serve and he started serving with ferocious speed. However Adi and Sonu audaciously held their racquets and were able to break Noble’s serves to gain a 2-1 lead. Mayank-Noble were not to be left behind and they immediately struck back by breaking Sonu’s serve to equalize the scores at 2-2. At this point came the crucial moment of the game when Adi-Sonu were able to neutralize Mayank’s serves by standing behind the baseline. They played some beautiful returns along with some aggressive net play thus gaining a 3-2 lead. Notwithstanding the break of serve, Mayank and Noble fought hard to come back in the game with some wonderful winners and classy net-play thus entertaining the crowd to the fullest. Mayank was at his controlled best making no errors whatsoever, with Noble fully complementing him at the net with those cheeky drop-shots and booming serves. Adi with his infectious energy was running all over the court covering both baseline and net. Sonu was also in a good form making no errors in her returns. At one point of the game, both Mayank and Noble came to the net thus blocking her shots, and Sonu played a lob which dropped just inside the baseline. After some enervating cross court rallies and some fiery shots by all the players, Adi-Sonu emerged winners and the final score line read 8-5 which does not truly reflect the nail-biting action which everyone witnessed.

Who would take the top spot?

Match 2 saw the match of the top performing teams in Group B with the strong team of Raj-Sampath playing the classy pair of Nishanth-Kanchan. This was being touted as the biggest game of the Group-B and had a lot hinging upon it, with the winner of this game most likely to gain the top-spot in their group. Hard-hitting Raj was complemented with controlled game of Sampath, and facing them were two gracious players in Kanchan and Nishanth. It was game-on from the first game itself with Kanchan starting with her servers. The rallies were fast and long with Raj playing aggressive at the net, Sampath not making a single mistake anywhere and Nishanth and Kanchan returning with such composure which is only seen in pros. None of the serves were broken and after 4 games the score read 2-2. At this crucial juncture it was Kanchan again who was serving, and with some beautifully controlled shots Raj-Sampath were able to break her serve thus gaining a 3-2 lead. However Kanchan and Nishanth were not to be left behind, and they immediately broke back Raj’s serves to equalize the scores at 3-3. This was when Sampath rose to the occasion with his flawless execution of rallies, which led to some unforced errors by Kanchan and Nishanth. Raj and Sampath won two consecutive games thus gaining a lead of 5-3. Kanchan then held on to her serve for the 9th game taking the score to 5-4, but this was Sampath’s day as he served out his game winning the same thus resulting in the winning score of 6-4.

In the third but very crucial match for deciding both the places for semis in Group A, Soppin/ Harpal who had one win and one loss were up against Tanmay / Lopa who had won both their previous encounters. Soppin / Harpal started off well and immediately took lead over Tanmay / Lopa. Some good shots and serve from Harpal, who was a surprise package today, provided the support to Soppin who was at his best as usual. Tanmay did play some wonderful shots and winners but that was not sufficient for them to prevent Soppin and Harpal from victory as they lost 6 – 2. Interestingly with this defeat, Tanmay and Lopa who were at the top of the table from Group A have now moved to third place making way for Soppin / Harpal and Ajeet/Vinayak into the semis who are now the topper and runners respectively in Group A.

Final Scores :
Aditya / Sonu bt Mayank / Noble : 8 – 5
Raj / Sampath bt Kanchan / Nishanth : 6 – 3
Soppin / Harpal bt Tanmay / Lopa : 6 – 2

Story and Photos by Adi and Mani.

Match Summary and Points Table (Day 6)

Team standings with some interesting equations

How the teams stand in the HunFord Open:

With the major chunk of matches getting over, the teams are looking forward at the semis of the two events in the HunFord open starting next week. But still we have 2 day of tennis left for the league matches which in itself promises to bring a lot of excitement. So how do the teams stand with 2 days of tennis more to go?

We start with Event 2. Group C has finished all its matches and we already have the semi finalist from group C. After winning both their league matches, Supriya and Nagesh finish at top, while Shaunak and Prajeet after their victory over Swamy and Vinit have registered the second place for semis from Group C.

Vinu and Apurva sealed their berth in semis winning both their league matches and finishing at the top of group D. This means Shaunak / Prajeet now face Vinu and Apurva in one of the semis.

With once more crucial match to go in group D, the second spot is still for sale. Mayank/Noble and Aditya/Sonu need to fight it out for this place on Friday and winner of this battle face Nagesh and Supriya for the second semifinal of event 2.

The more the number of teams in a group, the more complex scenario they present to you and this is what Group A and B have in store for you. Tanmay and Lopa can make this very simple by winning their last match of group A. This would mean Tanmay and Lopa finish at the top, while Ajeet and Vinayak finish second in this group ensuring the semi final berth for both these teams. But Soppin and Harpal can spoil their party by beating Tanmay and Lopa and making the scenario a bit complicated. The key then would be the score by which they defeat Tanmay and Lopa. Interestingly, a 6 – 3 victory of Soppin / Harpal over Tanmay / Lopa sees both these teams through to semis, while Ajeet / Vinayak can just feel a bit unlucky. A score worse than 6 – 3, i.e. 6 – 4 or above, would mean Soppin / Harpal even though they win the match but would not be able to make to semis as Tanmay / Lopa and Ajeet / Vinayak would have better win / lose ratio. Similarily a 2 – 6, 1 – 6 or a 0 – 6 loss by Tanmay / Lopa would show them the exit door. Interesting this seems like and IPL run rate calculation .
Considering the current form of Raj / Sampath and Nishanth / Kanchan, they should be through to the semis. However, Rebecca and Akhil can still spoil their party after clinching a crucial victory over Rajesh and Malini. With still 3 more matches to go for group B, there is a lot at stake for these teams to play for.
So guys the Game is still on….

Story by Ajeet.