PBL 3 Tie 7: Ahmedabad beats Hunters as Prannoy stars

Undisputed HS Prannoy kept his stride untouchable in the Premier Badminton League to contribute debutant team Ahmedabad Smash Masters after defeating Hyderabad Hunters with 4-3 at the Siri Fort Complex in New Delhi on Friday.

With his unbeaten performance, Prannoy won against B Sai Praneeth with 15-10, 15-8 in the Trump match that led Ahmedabad with 4-1 against Hyderabad.

After saving two early points, Prannoy hit 6-2 lead with his smashes against Praneeth, who later turned the momentum in his way by six straight gains to lead with 2 points by the break with 8-6. Later, he failed to maintain the pace as Prannoy took the charge and led back to win the first game with 15-10.

Prannoy led 4-2 in the second game and had a three-point advantage at the break. Prannoy by using the maximum of the court with his stretches returned Praneeth’s smashes before winning a point from another deceptive net shot to clinch the match.

The much awaited clash between Marin and world no .1 Tai Tzu Ying, had to be just the dream as Marin withdrew from the tie due to illness, and was replaced by Rasika Raje. Tai Tzu has been just fantastic, as always, and that too encounter against world no. 95 is not the big thing for the Taiwanese in the women’s singles match.

Tai thrashed Raje in the straight games with 15-5, 15-6 to put Ahmedabad forward in the match.

Tai, who is known for her tranquility in any kind of match, made Raje to break the sweat since the beginning of the match and stood 6 points ahead by the break with 8-2 in the first game. As the match is progressing, Raje could manage to gain four more points with her forehand smash skills before losing to the opponent with 6-15.

Earlier, in the mixed doubles match, Ahmedabad’s duo Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Lee Chun Hei Reginald rebounded to win the match after losing in the first game against Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy of Hunters with 4-15, 15-12, 15-8

Beginning the match on a high note, Hunters duo raced straight with 5 points to lead with 5-0. With Satwik’s jump smash Hunters broke with 8-3 by the half time. The opponents won one more point before losing to the Hunters upperhand in the game with Satwik’s another jump smash at 13-4 and then the game with 15-4.

Juhl and Lee Chun put up the gritty fight in the second game after conceding three points and headed into the break with a slender one point lead 8-7. They stretched it to 11-8 and held onto it to win the second game 15-12 and draw level.

In the third and deciding game, Satwiksairaj committed three unforced errors to hand Juhl and Lee Chun a 6-3 lead who maintained it to go into the break with 8-5. Post interval, it was one way traffic as they won five successive points to make it 13-5 before wrapping it 15-8.

World No. 18 Lee Hyun II emerged winner and cheered up hyderabad Hunters after defeating Sourabh Verma in the straight games with 15-9, 15-11 in the first men’s singles match; the korean dominated Verma from the start with angled smashes and drop shots before leading with 8-2 by the break, and continued the trot going down the wire to grab the game with 15-9.

Lee zoomed to a 6-1 lead in the second game and had a comfortable 8-4 lead at the mid game break. Verma fought hard to reduce the deficit 10-12 after the break before losing it 11-15.

By adding two more points in the Trump victory in the men's doubles match, Hunters made the score better, trailing with 3-4 against the Ahmedabad Smash Masters. pair of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong made got better against Kidambi Nandagopal and Lee Chun Hei 15-14, 15-11.