PBL Season 2 kicks off with Hyderabad Hunters’ fighting win over Chennai Smashers

Hyderabad Hunters won the opening match of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League 2017 at the expense of Chennai Smashers by virtue of a 4-3 score line at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on New Year’s Day. Match 1: Carolina Marin (HYD) vs PV Sindhu (CHE) The first match saw a clash of titans as the marquee players went head to head; Carolina Marin of Hyderabd Hunters against PV Sindhu of Chennai Smashers. The match lived up to its billing, as both players went all out against each other, but in the end, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist again proved a tad stronger for the silver medalist of the same. Marin clinched a tough three-setter with an 11-8 12-14 11-2 victory. Marin won the first point of PBL as the two old foes went neck and neck. However, Marin got the lead at the half with a 6-4 scoreline in her favour. Marin though slowly got a better grip on the game as she brushed off Sindhu’s resistance, clinching the first game 11-8. In the second game, Marin started where she left off, and had the upper hand. Sindhu’s defence was not enough and soon Marin had two match points at 10-8. Sindhu saved both, playing cautiously, to make it 10-10. Marin won the next point to get a third match point at 11-10. But Sindhu saved that as well to make it 12-12. The race to 14 points was on, and Sindhu won the next two points to take the second game 14-12. Marin started the deciding game strongly, rushing into a 6-1 lead at the half with a commanding display, the fourth point of which she won coming after a massive, exhaustive rally of 52 shot. An unlikely comeback was never on, as Sindhu bowed down 2-11 in the final game to hand Hyderabad Hunters the first match. Result: Carolina Marin (HYD) beat PV Sindhu (CHE) 11-8 12-14 11-2   Match 2: Sai Praneeth (HYD) vs Tommy Sugiarto (CHE) The second match of the evening saw Sai Praneeth from the Hunters take on Smashers’ Tommy Sugiarto. The Indonesian proved too hot to handle for the young Indian, as Sugiarto clinched the match in straight sets, with an 11-6 11-8 victory. Sugiarto eased into a 6-3 lead at half time in the first game. The second half saw Sugiarto dominate proceedings, amidst some amount of resistance from Sai Praneeth, to get five match points at 10-5 and ultimately clinch the first game 11-6. Sugiarto was his usual relentless self in the second game, strolling to a 6-2 lead at half time, playing some strong badminton with a lot of powerful smashes. Sai Praneeth tried to put up a fight, but could not stop Sugiarto getting five match points at 10-5 in the Indonesian’s favour. Sai Praneeth showed great courage to win the next three points, but ultimately left too much to do in the end as Sugiarto clinched the game at 11-8, and with that, the match, levelling the tie at 1-1. Result: Tommy Sugiarto (CHE) beat Sai Praneeth 11-7 11-9 Match 3: Satwik Sai Raj/Chau Hoi Wah (HYD) vs Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (CHE) Chennai Smashers called for a trump match for the third encounter, as their husband-wife pair of Chris and Gabrielle Adcock took on the pair of Satwik Sai Raj and Chau Hoi Wah. The Adcocks are a well-established mixed doubles pair and they made their excellent team work count, winning their vital trump match 11-7 11-9. Both teams went toe-to-toe in this encounter but the Adcocks got the edge at half-time with a 6-5 lead, one for which they were made to sweat. But soon the Adcocks made their chemistry count as they raced to game point at 10-7, and sealed the game with the score line of 11-7. The second game again started with the two pairs at par, but once again the Adcocks had the slight edge during the half at 6-4. They once again made their team work count as they got three match points at 10-7. Satwik hit some powerful smashes as his team rallied to save two of them. However, the Adcocks kept calm and won the next point to win the match 11-9 and also put two vital points on board for the Smashers as they notched a 3-1 lead. Result: Chris/Gabrielle Adcock (CHE) beat Satwik/Chau 11-7 11-9   Match 4: Rajiv Ouseph (HYD) vs Tanongsak S. (CHE) The fourth match saw the second men’s singles of the evening as Hunters’ Rajiv Ouseph took on Smashers’ Tanongsak S. Tanongsak started on the front foot winning the first set, but Ouseph came back strongly to clinch a comeback victory with a fighting 6-11 11-8 11-6 score line. Both men were at par, but Tanongsak, with the help of some intelligent shots and powerful smashes went into the half with a 6-4 lead. He soon began to run away with the game as some costly errors by Ouseph handed Tanongsak a 10-5 lead and the Thai international soon clinched the game 11-6. In the second game, Ouseph was more cautious and played some smart badminton to take a 6-5 lead at the half. This time, the errors came from Tanongsak as Ouseph went into a 10-7 lead and ultimately clinched the second game 11-8. Ouseph came into the second set strongly, waltzing into a 6-2 lead at the half. Ouseph then did not allow any sniff of a chance for Tanongsak, as he completed the comeback victory by clinching the final game 11-6, and put The Hunters right back in the tie with his team trailing by just a point at 2-3. Result: Ouseph beat Tanongsak 6-11 11-8 11-6   Match 5: Tan Boon Heong/Tan Wee Kiong (HYD) vs Mads Pieler Kolding/B Sumeeth Reddy(CHE) The final crucial match of this fixture was called a trump by The Hunters, as their formidable men’s doubles pair of Tan Boon Heong and Tan Wee Kiong took on Mads Pieler Colding and B Sumeeth Reddy. The Malaysian duo, who were former partners at the international level, got the required victory for The Hunters with an 11-7 11-8 score line as they clinched the tie 4-3. The Hunters’ pair gelled well as they hardly put a foot wrong, taking the opening game 11-7, with Tan Boon Heong clinching the final point with a 343 km/hr smash. They continued to dominate proceedings in the second game as they raced into a 6-3 lead at the half. The took the momentum into the second half, as they soon reached a 10-5 lead with five game, match and tie points. The Smashers won the next three points, to make the ending a bit edgy for the Hunters, but the two Tans held their nerves in the end to run out 11-8 winners and in the process, handed Hyderabad Hunters a come-from-behind 4-3 scoreline. Result: Tan/Tan beat Colding/Reddy 11-7 11-8 Final Result: Hyderabad Hunters beat Chennai smashers 4-3