Srikanth keeps Bengaluru in hunt for PBL semi-final berth
BENGALURU: Bengaluru Raptors’ skipper Kidambi Srikanth led from the front against Mumbai Rockets to keep his team in the hunt for a semi-final berth at the Premier Badminton League on Tuesday.
Bengaluru needed a minimum four points to move into the top 4 and they were successful as they won the first three matches, including a Trump, to knock the Pune 7 Aces out at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium.
World No. 18 Anders Antonsen of Mumbai put up a brilliant performance against an unbeaten Srikanth but fell short at the end in each game as the former World No. 1 sealed a narrow 15-14, 15-13 victory.
With an array of body smashes, Srikanth went up to 8-5 but Antonsen came storming back to 9-9.
With the two tied at 13-13, the Dane made it 14-13 and had a game point which Srikanth erased with aplomb by taking the next two points.
The second game turned out to be as competitive. Both were aggressive and were even till 13-13 until Srikanth made one last push to secure the win.
Bengaluru always had the upper hand in women’s singles. World No. 59 Vu Thi Trang of the Raptors blew away Mumbai’s 202nd ranked Shreyanshi Pardeshi 15-4, 11-15, 15-7.
With former men’s doubles world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan being in the line-up, the Raptors had every right to feel confident against Lee Yong Dae and Kim Gi Jung.
Having triumphed thrice in four outings so far, the Indonesians had the edge and they wrapped it up in straight games, winning 15-11, 15-11.
The Mumbai pair stayed close on their heels in the first game, but a string of unforced errors dashed all their hopes.
KERBER IN QUARTERS
Sydney:angelique Kerber began her title defence at the Sydney International with a 7-6(3) 6-2 win over Italian Camila Giorgi to reach the quarter-finals. Sloane Stephens was two points from defeat before holding off Ekaterina Alexandrova 0-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3). In Auckland, David Ferrer cruised past Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round of the Auckland Classic.
SHARATH-MANIKA WIN
CUTTACK: A Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra defeated topseeded pair of Manav Thakkar and Archana Girish Kamath 3-1 to win the mixed doubles gold in National Table Tennis Championship.