Carolina Marin surges Hyderabad Hunters to the finals

The Spaniard Carolina Marin rebounded in the decider game in the women’s singles semi-finals encounter and led Hyderabad Hunters into the finals of the third Premier Badminton League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Friday.

With the vehement crowd in the stadium, got past fighting Sung Ji Hyun with 13-15, 15-10, 15-9 to trounce Delhi Dashers in the gripping semifinal. Being the team’s Trump player, she picked two points and secured finals berth.

Earlier, B Sai Praneeth sealed the victory by defeating Dashers’ Trump player Tian Houwei. With down the line smashes, the Hyderabadi was on good form making it difficult to the Chinese World No. 22. Praneeth strode down the wire with 15-9, 15-8 victory and brought the spectators to the wild mode with 1-0 lead.

In the opening clash, Hunters duo Pia Zebadiah Bernadet and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov with 15-13, 10-15, 10-15 to upset the crowd.

Being lost in the first game, Ashwini and Ivanov came back with the tough and instinctive rallies. India’s ace doubles shuttler Ponnappa used her skills well and rose the hopes of Dashers with her deception and the duo took the dominance soon to surge next two games with 15-10, 15-10.

While, Marin and Sung match was an absolute frenzy match, as both the players defended well. Using drop shots as her perfect skills for the opponent, Sung Ji gave the tough fight to Marin and took the first game.

Marin’s fans were cheered as Marin uplifted the next two games. With her hard returns, the Trump player irritated the Korean.

Midway through the game, she took charge with a series of points to deflate Sun Ji 15-10. Thereafter, it was Marin all the way. She didn't give the visibly tiring Sung Ji any opportunity and forced her into errors to capture the third game as well as the match.

Results:

Mixed Doubles: P. Z. Bernadeth and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov with 15-13, 10-15, 10-15

Men’s Singles: Sai Praneeth beat Tian Houwei (T) with 15-9, 15-8

Women’s Singles: Carolina marin (T) beat Sung Ji Hyun with 12-15, 15-10, 15-9