PV Sindhu wins another match, supports Chennai Smashers to win 4-3 against Awadhe Warriors

Bengaluru: Vincent Wong Wing Ki beat Tanongsak Saemsomboonsuk of Chennai Smashers 6-11, 11-9, 12-10 in the first match to take an early lead for Awadhe Warriors in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 2, powered by Maruti Suzuki at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

With both the teams qualified for the semifinals, both the teams battled it out in the middle aiming for maximum points and move higher up the table. And it was a perfect start for Warriors as Wing Ki won the opening match to give them a boost for the remainder of the tie.

The second match of the day was the mixed doubles match between Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock of Blasters and Bodin Issara/Prajakta Sawant of Awadhe Warriors. Living up to the reputation, the Adcock pair made short work of the Awadhe Warriors’ team and won the match 11-4, 11-9. Though Issara and Sawant tried to make a comeback in the second game, the British pair was out of their reach.

In the following match, P Kashyap of Chennai took on Aditya Joshi of Awadhe Warriors. It was a trump match for the Samashers and Kashyap came out all guns blazing to surpass Joshi 11-7, 5-11, 11-7. The former junior world no 1, Joshi did win the second game, but that was not enough to get past Kashyap. That meant the score was 3-1 in favour of Chennai Smashers.

In the women’s singles, P V Sindhu faced-off against Riturparna Das. There was no surprise as far as the result was concerned. Sindhu won the game 11-4, 11-6. Down in the tie, a lot depended on Rituparna to bring her team back into the fray. But the 20 year old was no match to her compatriot. With this win Smashers secured an unassailable 4-1 lead.

The match of the day was the mixed doubles encounter between Mads Pieler Kolding/ Sumeeth Reddy of Smashers and the pair of V Shem Goh/ Markis Kido of Warriors. With the tie already lost, Awadhe Warriors were for crucial as it was their trump match. The latter won the match 12-10, 11-8 to take two points as well as move to the top of the table.

In the last league match of the season, it will be a clash between Hyderabad Hunters and Delhi Acers on Thursday with both the teams aiming for the last knock-out berth of the league. While Acers will need to beat their opponents 6- (-1) to advance further, Hyderabad will need to collect just three points to qualify. There is also a chance for Bengaluru Blasters to go further into the league if Acers manage to beat Hyderabad 4-1.