RAPTUROUS END
Bengaluru Raptors win Premier Badminton league
Defending champions Bengaluru Raptors, popularly known as Rowdy Raptors by fans, become the first team to retain their title, with a 4-2 win over the North Eastern Warriors in the final of the Premier Badminton League at the Gachibowli Stadium here on Sunday.
With all to play for in the mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon and Eom Hye Won of the Raptors played out of their skins to win their trump match 15-14, 14-15, 1512 over Krishna Prasad Garaga and Kim Ha Na of the Warriors, thus becoming the first side to win two league titles.
Earlier, World No.2 Tai Tzu Ying once again proved her worth with a clinical 15-9, 1512 win over Michelle Li of the Warriors in the women’s singles match. Tai Tzu needed just 32 minutes on court to maintain her unbeaten run in the League.
In the men’s doubles, Bodin Isara and Lee Yong Dae got the better of Arun George and Rian Agung Saputro of the Raports in a closely-contested three-game affair 1511, 13-15, 15-14. The tie was level at 2-2.
In the first game, the World
No.43 ran out of the court to get a new racquet as his strings broke — in the middle of a rally — came back in and managed to win a point for the Warriors. In a match that went on for 51 minutes, the Warriors held onto their nerves to win their trump match and make it 2-1 in favour of the Warriors.
In the first match of the evening, B. Sai Praneeth of the Benglauru Raptors rallied from a game down to beat Lee Cheuk Yiu 14-15, 159, 15-3 in one of the most scintillating rubbers in the fifth edition of the league.
The first game was a closely contested affair as it went down to the wire with Lee Cheuk finally taking it at 1514. At 14 all, both Sai and Cheuk caressed the shuttle close to the net for six exchanges. As Lee finally won the point, there was a stare down from World No.18, showcasing the intensity.
In the second and third games, the Indian had the answers to all shots that Lee Chuek had to offer. In the third match, Sai went into the break with a score of 8-0 — an unprecedented scoreline in the fifth edition of the PBL — eventually winning it
15-3 to help the defending champions start the final on a winning note.