JOIN USSajith-Srinath duo powers Peacock to thrilling win
Peacock had to dig deep into their reserves to notch their second win of the league, with the doubles pair of Sajith P V and Srinath J R producing the vital win in the deciding doubles encounter in a contest that went to the wire.
Aditya Prakash provided the early impetus for Peacocks, overcoming an inexplicable mid-match loss in form to outlast Smashers’ Prakash Jolly 21-6, 23-25, 21-15.
However, Leela Lakshmi roared past Uttara Prakash 21-14, 21-17 to bring Smashers level before the mixed doubles pair of Praveen B and Divya A staged a fine rally against Prateek Khurana and Pratheeksha Ramesh to make it 2-1 for Peacocks with a 18-21, 21-13, 21-19 win.
Talented Abhishek Yeligar then brought Smashers level at 2-2 with a brilliant 21-15, 21-17 win over Jagdish Yadav. In the deciding men’s doubles, Sajith and Srinath rose to the occasion, outclassing the pair of Daniel S Farid and Girish Kumar 21-10, 21-14 to seal the contest for Peacocks.
Anxious moments
Aditya had got Peacocks off to a winning start but not before surviving some anxious moments. Aditya appeared too good for Jolly initially and seemed well on course for a comfortable victory. In complete command, Aditya hardly allowed Jolly any breathing space early on, mixing up his powerful smashes with some delicate net play.
In the first game, Aditya stroked himself to a 11-2 lead before opening an 18-6 advantage. Aditya then brought up game point with a powerful smash to the body of Jolly before sealing it with another scorcher.
The second game too bore a script similar of the first. Aditya just tore into Jolly, sending him scampering all over the court. Despite some silly unforced errors that allowed Jolly back into the game midway, Aditya still held his fort, jumping to a 19-15 lead. However, with his K2 Smashers team-mates egging him on, Jolly produced a brilliant late surge, winning the next four points to level the proceedings at 19-19.
Despite his game ditching him inexplicably, Aditya put himself within a point of sealing the issue with a superb smash but faulted with his serve as the scores read 20-20. Jolly then took the lead for the very first time in the match (23-22) with a fine smash before holding his nerve to clinch the thrilling game 25-23. Aditya was back in control in the third game and won it without breaking much sweat to put his team on course for its second win.
Results: White Peacock bt K2 Smashers 3-2 (Aditya Prakash bt Prakash Jolly 21-6, 23-25, 21-15; Uttara Prakash lt to Leela Lakshmi 14-21, 17-21; Praveen B/ Divya A bt Prateek Khurana/ Pratheeksha Ramesh 18-21, 21-13, 21-19; Jagdish Yadav lt to Abhishek Yeligar 15-21, 17-21; Sajith PV/ Srinath JR bt Daniel S Farid/ Girish Kumar VJ 21-10, 21-14).
Li Ning Lions lead Flypower Warriors 2-1 (Sonic Prabhudesai lt to Rajas Jawalkar bt 12-21, 6-21; Sindhu Bharadwaj lt to Jamunarani 21-18, 19-21, 14-21; Abhinand Shetty/ Nitya Sosale bt Dhruv Shanbag/ Aswathi Satheesan 21-12, 21-18).