Janaki-Pooja prevail after hiccups

The early part of the match looked as though it was not Janaki and Pooja’s day. Wayward returns, lack of coordination added to fluctuating serves, which at times were awry and sometimes brilliant, were enough evidence that the pair was disoriented.

But, that was only initially with a resultant they found themselves 0-3 down with both Pooja and Janaki failing to hold serves. However, experienced as they are, the duo sooner realised their shortcomings and effectively changed their game-plan. First they targeted their attack on Karishma then Nikita, which earned them their first success.

Nitika serving for the fourth failed to hold serve. Her partner Karishma found herself in all sorts of trouble at the net. Resultant: not many of Karishma’s returns got past the net and Janki-Pooja earned their first break. Success seemed to follow thereafter as the pair went on to win the next five games in a row.

But, the opponents were not giving in easily. In the second set, both the pairs traded breaks in the second and third games and then played on serve till the eighth.

The decisive break for Janaki-Pooja came in the ninth, when the pair had to put in all that what they had, winning it on Nikita’s serve.

Trishna Williams and S K Tara also had to go through a similar test before they subdued the spirited challenge of Kasturi Bhatt and Nona Wagh 6-4, 6-3 in a 55 minutes battle.

Doubles (I Round): Gautam Sheetal/Shruti Dhawav (Ind) bt Kameshwari Vadali/Tarmindar Grover (Ind) 6-0, 6-1; Shalini Thakur/Jutika Chokshi (Ind) bt Sonal Markar/Shivani Bhatt (Ind) 6-0, 6-0; Trishna Williams/S K Tara (Ind) bt Kasturi Bhatt/Nona Wagh (Ind) 6-4, 6-3.