PBL 3 Tie 20: Hunters thrashed Bengaluru Blasters, topped the standings

Hyderabad Hunters has topped the chart with 20 points after defeating Bengaluru Blasters and finished the league stage of Vodafone Premier Badminton League. Korean veteran Lee Hyun Il hard fought victory helped Hunters to enter the semi-final. With Lee's 15-11, 11-15, 15-11 win against Subhankar Dey, the hosts defeated Bengaluru Blasters with 6-(-1) to top the table.

With the mixed doubles being the first match of the Tie, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Pia Zebadiah Bernadet started well against Blasters duo Manu Attri and Sikki Reddy by saving the first game with 15-6. But, Blasters duo leveled te score in the second game and threw the match into the decider, in which Hunters surged with the dominance and put first point to the Hunters pocket with 15-9 win.

Juggernaut Sai Praneeth faced the tough opponent Chong Wei Feng, who made the Indian to break the sweat for every point in a 10-15, 15-7, 15-14 verdict. In the decider, the Malaysian was trailing 12-14 but he pulled level to take the game into a tie-breaker. Serving for the match, Praneeth smacked Feng with a return into the net to end his gallant fight.

Carolina Marin then extended Hyderabad’s domination with a easy-peasy 15-9, 15-7 win against Kirsty Gilmour in the women’s singles

With Hyderabad 3-0 up, Lee won the trump match for Hyderabad and clinched two more points for his team. Hyderabad, who are languishing at the fourth spot previously, climbed up three spots with Thursday's win.

Hyderabad Hunters will face Delhi Dashers, who are with 15 points on the standings, on Friday in the first semi-finals of the league.

While, as the finishing touch men’s doubles duo Kido and Seong of Hunters took away the Blasters Trump and landed them into the negative point with the loud roar.

Results:

Mixed Doubles: P. Z. Bernadet and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy beat N. Sikki Reddy and Manu Attri with 15-6, 14-15, 15-9

Men’s Singles: B Sai Praneeth beat Chong Wei Feng with 10-15, 15-7, 15-14

Women’s Singles: Carolina Marin beat K. Gilmour with 15-9, 15-7

Men’s Singles: Lee Hyung  (T) beat Subhankar Dey 15-11, 11-15, 15-11

Men’s Doubles: Mark Kido and Y. Y. Seong beat Kim Sa Rang and M Boe (T) with 15-10, 11-15, 15-7