Round 2: Blood flowsas I-Mam blows out Manpreet fuse

In one of the most absorbing contests in the history of Good Sam tennis, 8th seeded Nabeel "Robert" I-Mam came face to face with upstart Manpreet Chhabra, conqueror of Dr. Marco Callirgos in a shock 1st round result.

The growing rivalry between the two had previously been reported in several reputed newspapers but once on the court, the bad blood between the two literally boiled over. Manpreet labeled I-Mam " as the easiest game I will play this year", completely brushing the seeded players' chances of progressing. I-Mam on his part was determined to prove his seeding was no stunt as he had every intention of letting Manpreet know who ran the internship program.

I-Mam stunned everybody by taking an easy 2-0 lead early on before being pegged back by Manpreet to 2-2. After a close fouhgt game, I-Mam finally went ahead 4-2 before Manpreet fought back to 4-3 and then 5-4. Things came to a head though, when I-Mam reaching for a ball, trying to smash a forehand, instead smashed his forehead with the racquet and opened up a huge gaping wound. But being the Lionheart, he brushed the injury aside and proceeded to dismantle Manpreet on the court.

With the scores tied at 5-5 and neither player refusing to lose, the 11th game was a titanic tussle, requiring no less than 12 deuces to decide the winner of the game. In the meantime, Manpreet decided enough was enough and proceeded to shed some of his own blood, perhaps making a sacrifice to the Tennis gods (always hungry for more human blood).

I-Mam finally wrapped up the first set 7-5 after some inspired rallies.The crowd was loving it.The 2nd set saw Manpreet in low spirits and on the verge of throwing in the towel. But something about I-Mams' attitude stung him into action but he soon found himself 3-1 down and in dire straits. He climbed to within 3-2 but then lost the crucial game to go down to 4-2 and then 5-2. Finally after 2 match points, I-Mam cruised into the prestigious Group stages by wrapping up the 2nd set 6-2. Final Score:

7-5 6-2 to I-Mam in 1 hour and 50 minutes

So I-Mam is through to Group A where he will face defending Chanp Ganesh, Daitan and Arthur.

Manpreet though was bitterly disappointed to have missed out on the Groups. He will now play the loser of Nauman-Ada game for 9th spot.