The overall team strength of Hyderabad Strikers held them in good stead, as they overturned an early deficit to put it across Bengaluru Spartans 42-38 for their second victory in the league stage of the Tennis Premier League at the Celebration Club, here, on Wednesday. Late on Tuesday, the Hyderabad outfit had outplayed Rajasthan Panthers 49-31. It was also Bengaluru’s second loss, having lost to the Mumbai Leon Army 39-41 on Tuesday.
Pune Jaguars also continued their winning form with a 46-34 victory over Rajasthan Panthers, for whom it the second league stage loss.
Karman Kaur gave Hyderabad Strikers a winning start, scoring over the higher ranked Uzbek Sabina Sharipova 11-9. However, Bengaluru came roaring back through N Sriram Balaji, who served big and volleyed well against Arjun Kadhe, jumping to a 7-0 lead before winning 14-6, to give them a sizeable lead.
It was here that the team strength of Hyderabad came into play, with Vishnu Vardhan joining Karman for a 11-9 win over Jeevan N and Sharipova to cut the lead. With the advantage still with Bengaluru, Hyderabad needed a big win in the deciding men’s doubles and Vishnu and Kadhe did exactly that, both using their big serves and sharp net coverage to advantage, winning 14-6 over Bala and Jeevan to seal the tie.
Rutuja was once again in good form for Pune Jaguars, winning the opening singles 11-9 over Rajasthan’s Latvian player Diana Marcinkevica. Saketh Myneni continued the momentum with a 12-8 victory over Aryan Goveas and then they won the mixed doubles and men’s doubles 12-8 and 11-9 respectively for a comfortable victory.
Results
Hyderabad Strikers bt Bengaluru Spartan 42-38 (Karman Kaur bt Sabina Sharipova 11-9; Arjun Kadhe lost to N Sriram Balaji 61; Vishnu Vasdhan/Karman bt Jeevan N/Sharipova 11-9; Vishnu/Kadhe bt Jeevan/Bala 1-6
Pune Jaguars bt Rajasthan Tigers 46-34 (Rutuja Bhosle bt Diana Marcinkevica 11-9; Saketh Myneni bt Aryan Goveas 12-8; Ishaque Iqbal/Rutuja bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran/Diana 12-8; Saketh/Ishaque bt Prajnesh/Aryan 11-9)
Results (Tuesday): Hyderabad Strikers bt Rajasthan Tigers 49-31 (Karman lost to Diana 9-11; Kadhe bt Prajnesh 1-6; Vishnu/Karman bt Aryan/Diana 15-5; Kadhe/Vishnu bt Aryan Prajnesh 11-9)
Mumbai Leon Army bt Bengaluru Spartans 41-39 (Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Sabina 12-8; Ramanathan Ramkumar bt Balaji 11-9; Sowjanya/Niki Poonacha lost to
Jeevan/Sabina 8-12; Ramkumar/Poonacha tied with Jeevan/Balaji 10-10.
Photos
Leave a Reply