Unstoppable Indian mixed doubles at Dutch Open; into pre-quarters

Day 1

Indian shuttlers started off their campaign in style as the mixed doubles shuttlers, Ashwini Ponnappa along with the young partner Satwiksairaj beat the sweden pair Richard Eidestedt and Clara Nistad with 21-17, 21-12 followed by Manu Atri - Maneesha's thrashing victory in just 18 minutes against Jasper Koppen and Judith Van Cruchten of Netherlands with 21-15, 21-7 on day 1 and marched to the next rounds with ease.

After having a convincing victory on day 1, both the Indian mixed doubles pairs had a tough fights in their respective matches on day 2, though continued their superb form.

Match 1

In their first game, the ashwini-satwik duo outplayed the local heroes, Robin Tabeling and Cheryl Seinen with 21-15, 20-22, 21-6 in a close match.

In the opener, the duo stamped their authority with a lead 5-4, and won 6 straight point wins to seal the tie 11-4. On resumption, the duo outclassed the opponents with lightning speed play and took the game with 21-15.

In the second game, the local pair halted the amazing Indian pair's run from a position of 6-3 healthy Indian pair lead to the equality at 9-9. The Dutch pair gave no chance to the Indians and with 3 straight points from 13-13 to 16-13 lead. The Dutch, then put up a handy 19-14 lead with another 4 straight rocket speed points. Taking the game comfortably without losing patience, the kind of composure the Indians showed against the Dutch was second to none. 3 straight points for Indian pair to tie the level at 20-20 is surely a see-saw battle between the two. The Dutch pair who was in red-hot form and with their ability to unsettle their opponents took away the game with 22-20 and forced the match into decider.

In the decider, the Indian pair were just in the demolition mode with a 4 point lead from 4-0 and 8-1 and put themselves in the driver's seat from the beginning. The confident Indian pair built up a terrific 7 point lead by the interval with 11-4. Succumbed to pressure right from the beginning, the local heroes couldn't be able to stop the Indians momentum and struggled to match up the pace of the Indians and lost the decider game with 6-21 against the unstoppable Indian duo.

Match 2 

Another mixed doubles pair, Manu Atri - Maneesha continued their rampant form in a different match against Freek Golinski and Lise Jaques of Belgium.

The Indian duo produced a stellar show to beat the opponents in a dramatic and 50 minute long game, with 21-18, 21-23, 21-14. The Indians stole the show with their over-all game and dominated the proceedings in the decider game.

The Belgian pair had clearly struggled to match up to the pace of Indians in the first hurdle and with the handful 2 point lead in the interval with 11-9 continued the same pace without making any errors. Having 3 straight points post the break, the Indian pair had a clinical 7 point lead at 17-10. Nevertheless, the Belgian duo struck back with 4 straight points and took the game to 19-17 for the Indians. With a tremendous control in place, the Indians did not make any errors in the end and managed a smooth win with 21-18.

The second game was anti-climax to Indians losing in a close match. The Indians started off superb in the first half and maintained the lead of 11-9 by the interval. However, the Belgians were magical after the break and took away the game from the Indians allowing them to make more errors. With a tie at 12-12 and 6 straight point wins, the Belgian pair had a strong 6 point lead with 18-12 and with constant forced errors; the game once again tied-up at 19-19 with amazing comeback from the Indian pair and eventually lost after a tough fight with 23-21 and pushed the game to decider.

In the decider, the Indians continued to battle with same intense and edged out the Belgian pair with their superlative performance. With an unassailable 5-0 lead in the beginning and 11-6 at the interval, the Indians did not disappoint and displayed a dominant performance over the Belgians. With 4 straight points, the Indians sailed easily to 15-9 and sealed the game with a thumping 21-14 victory.  

Both the matches happened to be pulsating summit for Indians, after losing in their respective second game(s) pushing the games to the decider. Coming in with huge expectations on day 2, both the doubles pairs (ashwini-satwik and manu atri-maneesha) cruised on to the pre-quarters of Dutch Open 2017.