Double
header today also. The 1st match would mark the end of league stage.
The 2nd match would be between the top 2 losing teams to have a shot
at the Quarter Finals.
League Match 7: Prashanth/Vidya vs Deepak/Kevika
Toss: Prashanth/Vidya
Match Report:
Vidya had an eventful time leading to the match. First, she was caught with a secret note (by IamME and Shashank which she destroyed by the way J) followed by meeting with the ‘smiling assasin’ Suneel regarding her performance rating (not in carom I suppose :P). By the looks of it, it was evident that Vidya was ready to blast the opposition off with meancing looks atleast. Prashanth was in the weekend mood evident by the fact that he was sleeping his way to glory till 10 ‘o’ clock and considered coming to office on a Saturday a great feat that deserved a Nobel Prize inspite of 2 official holidays during the week. Deepak personified Steve Waugh (known for his mental disintegration of the opposition) by bragging about this superior carom skills to Vidya and intimidating her by pointing out that she didn’t have any skills at all. Since his partner Kevika couldn’t make it for the match, she was substituted by the newbie Pushpalatha who had no idea about the ongoing tournament or Carom itself.
Prashanth took the stike and started off positively. Deepak was slightly rusty to begin with. Prashanth’s confidence rubbed off on Vidya and she too started well. Pushpa, with her hands shivering was still wondering what to do. This shook up Deepak who realized that mental disintegration tactics would work only if he puts his own "superior" skills to use. With that he was back in his elements. The match went on at a leisurely pace with none of the teams trying to outdo the other. With an unexpected "due" from Pushpa the pressure was suddenly on Deepak. Kind hearted Vidya tried to take the pressure back on her team by trying for a pawn almost four times and failing each time more miserably than the previous time. Suddenly Pushpa made the game her own with some unexpected perfect shots and once again the teams were running close. Vidya finished her unfinished business with the nemesis pawn finally! The game was Pushpa’s now and she had a great chance to win it for her team. Unfortunately the chance was missed. The situation was like this: At one corner, it was the red very close to the pocket with a white lurking behind it & black right next to it. At the adjacent pocket was another back pawnvalmost near the pocket.
Prashanth looked around, scratched his chin, looked at semi-finalist Tejas (who gave a reassuring smile with the thoughts of 5th floor "SuperPartner" in his mind), closed his eyes, prayed to his favorite God and let the striker go putting all his might behind it. The striker on the rebound, crashed into white thereby pushing the red into the pocket. Then the unthinkable happened. The striker had some life left (remember Prashanth’s might) and pushed the white too inside the pocket. Prashanth let out a roar and indicated that he is ready for the QF. Deepak/Pushpa gracious in their loss congratulated the winning team. The match got over in 16min 20sec marking the end of league stage.
Winners: Prashanth/Vidya
Quarter Final Qualifier: Nandeesh/Harshi vs Ashish/Sujatha
Toss: Nandeesh/Harshi
Match Report:
Having been very close to winning in their league match, these two teams had earned one more opportunity to force their way into QF. Nandeesh/Harshi were the dark horses, but nobody had the guts to bet against Ashish/Sujatha who had impressed everyone with their uninhibited performance in the league stage.
As in the league stage, Nandeesh won the toss started off for his team. Ashish played a surreal 1st shot where he pocketed 2 whites and a black. Both the teams were happy and the crowd went ballistic. Harshi’s performance was a repeat of the league stage: starting off well, going off the track, bad to worse and again playing well (other teams, please note this trend. Might come handy later). Sujatha lent stability and sanity to her team silently. Everyone played reasonably and both teams were equally placed by 8th minute. Things would have gone in the same pace if not for Ashish. He suddenly decided that he had to take the queen now. This inspite of the fact that queen was surrounded by black pawns and there was no need for the queen at all! In a freakish shot, the queen went into the pocket on a rebound-double (Please don’t ask what it is. That is the closest I can come to describe that shot) and he fluffed a very simple follow up chance. Well, Ashish cant be Ashish without such unexplained performances right?? Now it was Harshi’s “again playing well” stage and She took her team one step closer to victory by placing all the pawns in favorable positions for Nandeesh. Sujatha couldn’t spoil the party and Nandeesh completed the formalities thus earning a well-deserved place in the QF after an entertaining 11min 7sec.
Winners: Nandeesh/Harshi
How they reached Qualifier?
Nandeesh/Harshi
Ashish/Sujatha
Compiled by IamME
League Match 7: Prashanth/Vidya vs Deepak/Kevika
Toss: Prashanth/Vidya
Match Report:
Vidya had an eventful time leading to the match. First, she was caught with a secret note (by IamME and Shashank which she destroyed by the way J) followed by meeting with the ‘smiling assasin’ Suneel regarding her performance rating (not in carom I suppose :P). By the looks of it, it was evident that Vidya was ready to blast the opposition off with meancing looks atleast. Prashanth was in the weekend mood evident by the fact that he was sleeping his way to glory till 10 ‘o’ clock and considered coming to office on a Saturday a great feat that deserved a Nobel Prize inspite of 2 official holidays during the week. Deepak personified Steve Waugh (known for his mental disintegration of the opposition) by bragging about this superior carom skills to Vidya and intimidating her by pointing out that she didn’t have any skills at all. Since his partner Kevika couldn’t make it for the match, she was substituted by the newbie Pushpalatha who had no idea about the ongoing tournament or Carom itself.
Prashanth took the stike and started off positively. Deepak was slightly rusty to begin with. Prashanth’s confidence rubbed off on Vidya and she too started well. Pushpa, with her hands shivering was still wondering what to do. This shook up Deepak who realized that mental disintegration tactics would work only if he puts his own "superior" skills to use. With that he was back in his elements. The match went on at a leisurely pace with none of the teams trying to outdo the other. With an unexpected "due" from Pushpa the pressure was suddenly on Deepak. Kind hearted Vidya tried to take the pressure back on her team by trying for a pawn almost four times and failing each time more miserably than the previous time. Suddenly Pushpa made the game her own with some unexpected perfect shots and once again the teams were running close. Vidya finished her unfinished business with the nemesis pawn finally! The game was Pushpa’s now and she had a great chance to win it for her team. Unfortunately the chance was missed. The situation was like this: At one corner, it was the red very close to the pocket with a white lurking behind it & black right next to it. At the adjacent pocket was another back pawnvalmost near the pocket.
Prashanth looked around, scratched his chin, looked at semi-finalist Tejas (who gave a reassuring smile with the thoughts of 5th floor "SuperPartner" in his mind), closed his eyes, prayed to his favorite God and let the striker go putting all his might behind it. The striker on the rebound, crashed into white thereby pushing the red into the pocket. Then the unthinkable happened. The striker had some life left (remember Prashanth’s might) and pushed the white too inside the pocket. Prashanth let out a roar and indicated that he is ready for the QF. Deepak/Pushpa gracious in their loss congratulated the winning team. The match got over in 16min 20sec marking the end of league stage.
Winners: Prashanth/Vidya
Quarter Final Qualifier: Nandeesh/Harshi vs Ashish/Sujatha
Toss: Nandeesh/Harshi
Match Report:
Having been very close to winning in their league match, these two teams had earned one more opportunity to force their way into QF. Nandeesh/Harshi were the dark horses, but nobody had the guts to bet against Ashish/Sujatha who had impressed everyone with their uninhibited performance in the league stage.
As in the league stage, Nandeesh won the toss started off for his team. Ashish played a surreal 1st shot where he pocketed 2 whites and a black. Both the teams were happy and the crowd went ballistic. Harshi’s performance was a repeat of the league stage: starting off well, going off the track, bad to worse and again playing well (other teams, please note this trend. Might come handy later). Sujatha lent stability and sanity to her team silently. Everyone played reasonably and both teams were equally placed by 8th minute. Things would have gone in the same pace if not for Ashish. He suddenly decided that he had to take the queen now. This inspite of the fact that queen was surrounded by black pawns and there was no need for the queen at all! In a freakish shot, the queen went into the pocket on a rebound-double (Please don’t ask what it is. That is the closest I can come to describe that shot) and he fluffed a very simple follow up chance. Well, Ashish cant be Ashish without such unexplained performances right?? Now it was Harshi’s “again playing well” stage and She took her team one step closer to victory by placing all the pawns in favorable positions for Nandeesh. Sujatha couldn’t spoil the party and Nandeesh completed the formalities thus earning a well-deserved place in the QF after an entertaining 11min 7sec.
Winners: Nandeesh/Harshi
How they reached Qualifier?
Nandeesh/Harshi
Ashish/Sujatha
Compiled by IamME
Nice description...
ReplyDeleteThanks Priyanka.. :)
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