Bengaluru: Bangalore Raptors won their inaugural tie of the last leg convincingly against Mumbai Rockets 5-0 in Premier Badminton League (PBL) played at Sree Kanteerva Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.
World no.44 representing Bengaluru Raptors Vu Thi Thrang was pitted against 20-year-old Shreyanshi Pardeshi of Mumbai Rockets in the first match of the evening. Thrang had the better of Pardeshi, winning the first game, 15-4. Mumbai Rockets were in the game when, Shreyanshi won the second game,15-11. Though, the third game went to Vu Thi Thrang as trashed hopes of Mumbai supporters by winning the game 15-7 and set 2-1, earning her team a cushion of 2 points before the second match.
Following that, honours in the men doubles category were easily taken by the Bengaluru Raptors. The duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan displayed their class against Gi Jung Kim and Yong Dae Lee by trashing them, 15-11,15-11.
All eyes were on World No.8 and crowd favourite Srikanth Kidambi and he didn't disappoint. He took the first set after being placed at 13-14 in the crucial moments of the first set. His opponent Anders Antonsen couldn't capitalize on the lead and failed in replying to his powerful smashes and lost the set 15-14. In the second set, Srikanth wrapped up the proceedings without any hassles by 15-13 and helping in gaining a lead of 3-0 in the tie. Sai Praneeth was tested in his encounter against Sameer Verma as he was tested till the third set. Sai lost the first set by 12-15 but he came back stronger as Sameer was trashed by 5-15. In a tight third set, Sai beat Sameer 15-13 and attaining two points for his team in the second Trump encounter of the night.
Though not affecting the course of the match, mixed doubles clash between the pair of Marcus Ellis,Lauran Smith for Raptors and Pia Zebadiah Berndadet, Gi Jung Kim for Rockets was entertaining to watch as both the duo gave their best to earn a point for their side. The horror for Mumbai Rockets ended with their loss 14-15,13-15.
