Warriors shock defending champions Smashers in PBL
GUWAHATI: Awadhe Warriors overcame the last-minute pullout of star player Saina Nehwal owing to an injury, as they stunned defending champions Chennai Smashers in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) opener on Saturday.
Awadhe won both their men’s singles and mixed doubles to take an unassailable 3-0 lead (4-0 on points) in the five- match duel.
World No. 3 Kidambi Srikanth downed Frenchman Brice Leverdez 15-12, 15-14 to build upon the successes of Parupalli Kashyap and the mixed doubles pair of Christinna Pedersen and Tang Chun Man earlier.
Kashyap won his singles against Daniel S Farid 15-12, 15 -8 to give them an additional advantage as Awadhe had ticked this encounter as their Trump Match. The victory gave them two points as against the usual one point for a win.
Earlier, Christinna and Tang provided an ideal start to Awadhe’s campaign by shocking fancied English couple Chris and Gabrielle Adcock 10-15, 15-5, 15-12. Their successes were roundly cheered by Saina from the bench after she was ruled out with an ankle niggle from the high-voltage meeting against Sindhu.
Sridhar, who alongwith Siyadath Ullah are part of the Awadhe coaching setup, said in a statement: “Saina is recovering from a small ankle issue which she had developed few weeks back. She is recovering well and we are expecting her to be fully fit for the next match.”
Although Chennai were down 0-3, their star player Sindhu was yet to take to the court and she was to take on Sai Uttejitha Rao.
HUNTERS WARY OF NEWCOMERS WARRIORS
GUWAHATI: Hyderabad Hunters are not willing to take debutants NorthEast Warriors lightly in their opening PBL match on Sunday. Spanish sensation Carolina Marin spearheads the Hunters campaign and the Rio Olympic champion is keen on improving upon their last season’s top-four finish.
“I’m looking forward to our first match against the North East Warriors.
“We are keen to do better than last season, although it will not be easy as the competition is very tough,” said Marin.
The 24-year-old is aware that team will be looking to her for inspiration and she is confident. “I will try to get maximum points and help my team,” she said.