KUWAIT CITY, July 5: Faheem and Noor were at their best this week as they took their opponents to task to dominate the Blue Tier, the senior-most category, when Indian Badminton Association in Kuwait (IBAK) continued with their IBAK Summer Smash Tourney at the Saad Al Awzi School in Salwa Friday.
While Faheem and Noor were beating one opponent after another, Aravind and Ronnie were leading Red Tier Cluster A while Unnikrishnan and Ashlin were the best in Red Tier Cluster B.
Meanwhile, the combined Green/Yellow Tier saw Pramod and Shaina show their class to take the top spot.
The event is being held with the following four tiers although one of them has been divided into two categories for the elimination rounds while two of them have been combined for this competition: Blue Tier (the senior most), Red Tier (which has been divided into two groups due to the large number of participants), Green Tier and Yellow Tier. The last two are the ones which have been combined into one category for this event as a large number of IBAK members are out of the country on their summer holidays.

Pairs winning their matches in two sets are awarded three points while in the matches which are stretched to three sets the winners go home with two points while the losers are also awarded one point for their efforts.
Yellow Tier: For all beginners — children, ladies or men.
Green Tier: This category is based on players who have been playing badminton continuously for more than 2 years in the recent past , having developed the basic skills of the game and well versed in the rules and regulations of the game.
Red Tier: This group involves players of the intermediate level category, who have improved their playing skills and have taken part in open competitions in similar categories and achieved success in various events.
Blue Tier: This category has players who have been playing badminton at a professional level and have represented their clubs, schools, districts, state, country at a top level and won awards in the open/top categories of the same.

Blue Tier
In the Blue Tier, Faheem and Noor moved into the driver’s seat after the 2nd week of tourney when they compiled 3 wins this week that handed them an unbeaten run in their four matches, including last week’s game, for a total of 10 points.
Faheem and Noor showed some real class when they wasted no effort to beat Mohan and Lekha 21-17, 21-14 before they had a tougher time in overcoming Mathew and Saju 21-17, 21-19 but they pressed on the accelerator in the last two sets to defeat the good pair of Pushkar and Srikumar 19-21, 21-10, 21-13 after losing a very tough first set.
Faheem and Noor did not have to exert too much in the second game in which Mathew and Saju took 17 points off them in the first set and 19 in the second.
Their third match, against Pushkar and Srikumar, seemed to be heading for a close finish after Faheem and Noor lost the first set but their opponents wilted in the second and third sets to surrender the match without even a semblance of a fight.

Meanwhile, the tandem of Chandra and Anil were 2nd best so far when they collected 3 wins and 1 loss for 8 points. Their total includes this week’s two victories as they overpowered Mohan and Lekha 21-13, 21-17 before brushing aside Mathew and Saju 21-17, 21-10.
Sunil and Manu acquired 2 wins and 2 losses for 6 points to rest in 3rd spot. Both their victories came this week when they fought wisely and overcame Chandra and Anil 21-19, 21-18 although they were made to sweat as they battled hard for every point to edge Pushkar and Sunil in one of the mouthwatering clashes witnessed that day.
In the second match, the game went to 3 extended sets with the supporters witness to an excellent seesaw battle before Sunil and Manu won 23-22, 18-21, 23-22.
This match was so keenly fought, with none of the pairs giving anything away, that it could have gone either way but in the end it was the steadier nerves of Sunil and Manu which prevailed.
On the other hand, there were two other pairs which did not go home empty handed as Pushkar and Srikumar bounced back to overcome Mathew and Saju 21-16, 23-21 in a very close match while the pair of Mohan and Lekha thumped Sunil and Manu 21-18, 21-17 but not before they were given a real fight by their opponents.

Initial Standings
Rank Blue Tier P W L Pts
1 Faheem/Noor 4 4 0 10
2 Chandra/Anil 4 3 1 8
3 Sunil/Manu 4 2 2 6
4 Pushkar/Srikumar 4 1 3 6
5 Mohan/Lekha 4 1 3 4
6 Mathew/Saju 4 1 3 2

Red Tier
There are only 2 matches this week in Cluster A of the Red Tier with the outstanding combination of Aravind and Ronnie showing that they are the best pair so far when they remained undefeated after this week’s victory as they hammered Shyam and Prasad 21-17, 21-10 to compile nine points, the maximum possible as they have won all their clashes in only two sets.
Meanwhile, Bharani and Santhosh have so far played 3 matches for total of 6 points. Their total includes this week’s victory as they took to the court only once on Friday to tame Jimmy and Sudhakar 22-20, 21-19 in a match which saw them stretched to the limit.
The second match was really a tough game with Bharani and Santhosh having to muster all their resources to stop Jimmy and Sudhakar from taking the first set which went into a tie-breaker.
The second set was only slightly easier for Bharani and Santhosh but they still gave away 19 points before they took the set and with it the game.

Initial Standings
Rank Red Tier A Played Pts
1 Aravind/Ronnie 3 9
2 Bharani/Santhosh 3 6
3 Shyam/Prasad 3 2
4 Jimmy/Sudhakar 3 1

The tandem of Unnikrishnan and Ashlin stayed on top of Red Tier cluster B when they maintained an unbeaten run in the 3 matches they have played so far, all in 2 sets for a maximum of nine points. This week they were in a victory mood again when they overcame Biju C and Suresh 23-22, 21-19.
This was one of the most exciting matches of the day as it was only the strong will to win of Unnikrishnan and Ashlin that brought them the first set because their opponents simply refused to give up.

All credit to Biju C and Suresh for putting up such a fight and still having to go away from the courts without even collecting a point for all their efforts but that is part of the charm of this tournament — if you lose in two straight sets, regardless of the fight you put up, you don’t any points.
The second set was also a treat to watch although it didn’t go into a tie-breaker with Unnikrishnan and Ashlin ensuring they were not stretched too much again. Both the sets could have gone either way as the scores indicate.
Tom and Oomen moved to 2nd place this week when they generated two wins that handed them 9 points in the four games they have played so far. This week they blended well on the courts to thump Biju C and Suresh 21-15, 21-18 while they wasted no effort to brush aside Morrison and Ajay 21-11, 21-11.
Morrison and Ajay made sure to walk home with a victory in their bag when they fought back to outlast Sajith and Nanda 21-7, 22-23, 21-18 with the last two sets, especially the second one, really close.

Initial Standings
Rank Red Tier B Played Pts
1 Unnikrishnan/Ashlin 3 9
2 Tom/Oommen 4 9
3 Morrison/Ajay 4 4
4 Sajith/Nanda 3 3
5 Biju C/Suresh 4 2
Green/ Yellow Tier
Pramod and Shaina were comfortably seated on top of the standings in the combined Green/Yellow Tier with 5 wins, 1 loss and 15 points. This week saw them compile 4 wins when they thrashed Numan and Steeve 14-21, 21-14, 21-8, hammered Danish and Liz 21-10, 21-8, overpowered Clara and Ainsley 21-13, 21-11 and won one match by default.
There was not much that the opponents of Pramod and Shaina could do as all of them went down tamely although Numan and Steve took one set off them before folding badly in the second and third sets.

Sai Krishna and Rani were 2nd best in the standings as they generated 5 wins this week. They showed they were an outstanding pair especially since they lost both their matches last week. They have now compiled 14 points from the seven matches they have played.
Sai Krishna and Rani put in their best effort to outlast Ashir and Sayooj in a seesaw battle 21-19, 19-21, 21-14 with the first two sets being very close as these could have gone either way.
The winners then defeated Danish and Liz 21-9, 21-17 with the first set being not more than walk in the park , thumped Clara and Ainsley 21-18, 21-17 in another very close and tough match before winning two games by default.
Ashir and Sayooj are currently in 3rd place with 4 wins in 6 games for a total of 12 points including two wins this week as they wasted no time to beat Danish and Liz 21-14, 21-8 before winning one match by default.

The tandem of Raj and Satish were sharing 4th place so far with Clara and Ainsley after collecting 4 wins and 11 points each from the six games each pair has played so far.
Clara and Aisley achieved three victories when they overpowered Raj and Satish 21-16, 21-14 before winning two games without to go to the courtsas they won these by default.
Raj and Satish gained 3 wins this week when they pressed on the accelerator in the last two sets to edge Ashir and Sayooj 13-21, 21-19, 21-17, before they overwhelmed Danish and Liz 21-14, 21-8 and won one match by default.
Danish and Liz did not go home empty handed when they compiled two wins by default with these being their only victories in their 7 matches in which they have compiled a total of 7 points.

Initial Standings
Rank Green/Yellow P W L Pts
1 Pramod/Shaina 6 5 1 15
2 Sai Krishna/Rani 7 5 2 14
3 Ashir/Sayooj 6 4 2 12
4 Clara/Ainsley 6 4 2 11
5 Raj/Satish 6 4 2 11
6 Danish/Liz 7 2 5 7
7 Numan/Steeve 7 2 5 6
8 Prince/Praveen 7 0 7 2
For details on all the programs of IBAK, inquiries can be sent to ibakchozhan@gmail.com