Marin crushes Saina, Praneeth stuns Srikanth as Hyderabad Hunters all but knock Awadhe Warriors out of PBL 3

Reigning Olympic Champion Carolina Marin of Spain beat World No.10 Saina Nehwal 15-5, 15-7 to help Hyderabad Hunters crush Awadhe Warriors in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, January 7.

Coming into the much-anticipated match of the tie, Hyderabad were leading 3 – [-1] on points and the win further saw them increase their lead (5-[-1]) in the five match duel.

In the opening game, Hyderabad's trump star Marin was at her aggressive best and raced off to take an 8-2 lead early on in the match. After the interval, it was just a matter of time before she sealed the game.

In the second game, the story remained unchanged and Marin further grew into the match to pick up the convincing win.

Praneeth makes light work of Srikanth

World No.16 Sai Praneeth recorded a stunning 15-10,15-10 victory over his compatriot and World No.3 Kidambi Srikanth to help Hyderabad Hunters to seal the tie 3-0 (3{-1} on points) with two matches remaining against Awadhe Warriors.

Praneeth who had beaten trump player Srikanth last year in the Singapore Open to win his first Super Series title was completely dominant in the match and after initial burst of points from the Denmark Open winner; it was Praneeth who controlled the opening game with his precision. He went into the break with a slender 7-8 deficit but after the interval, Sai displayed great precision to win the opening game.

In the second game, Sai was playing like a man possessed and raced to an 8-0 lead. Even though, Awadhe's Srikanth did very well to reduce the gap and take points, the Hyderabadi player sealed the match to win his first match of the tie.

Parupalli Kashyap loses thriller to Lee Hyun il

Earlier, World No.18 Lee Hyun Il of Korea registered a thrilling 13-15, 15-9, 15-14 victory over Parupalli Kashyap to guide Hyderabad Hunters to an early 2-0 lead against Awadhe Warriors.

Kashyap who has been in stellar form in this season started off the proceeding on a high note with his power smashes proving no match for the 37-year-old Korean. It was a treat to watch the way the Indian way moving on the court and firing in his winners. Even though the Lee gave him a tough fight it was the Indian who bagged the opening game.

In the second game, Lee got his act together and was quick off the blocks to head into the interval with an 8-3 lead. After the breather, Kashyap won three points on the trot to reduce the lead and was not in the mood to go down so easily. However, Lee maintained his stronghold on the game and denied to squander the early lead and raced to seal it to force into decider.

Lee, who is the oldest player to win a match in the Vodafone PBL came out a different player altogether and got on to the front-foot from the word go. He raced to an 8-3 lead and his combination of smashes, drop and deceptive cross court hits were too much the Indian to handle. Even, though Kashyap tried to stay on in the match after the change of ends and saved six match points, Lee did not give him any chance of a comeback and cruised to win the match and give his side the advantage.

Hyderabad logged in the first point of the day after their men's doubles pair of Markis Kido/Yoo Yeon Seong after they came back from a game down to win 14-15, 15-6, 15-11 against the combination of Or Ching Chung/Tang Chun Man.

Results

MD - Markis Kido/Yoo Yeon Seong bt Or Ching Chung/Tang Chun Man - 14-15, 15-6, 15-11

MS – Lee Hyun Il bt Parupalli Kashyap - 13-15, 15-9, 15-14

MS – Sai Praneeth vs Kidambi Srikanth [T] - 15-10,15-10

WS – Carolina Marin [T] vs Saina Nehwal – 15-5,15-7

XD – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Pia Zebediah vs Hendra Setiawan/Christinna Pedersen - 15-9, 15-9

Points Table [As on January 7, 2018]

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