After two days in Mumbai, the Premier Badminton League now moves to the city of Nawabs, Lucknow, where the home team Awadhe Warriors will face off against the defending champions the Delhi Acers at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.
Also read: Check out the complete squad list for all six teams
After defeating the Hyderabad Hunters in their first match of the PBL, the Awadhe Warriors will be looking to keep that winning momentum before their home crowd for the next two days with the Warriors set to play Mumbai Rockets tomorrow.
The Awadhe Warriors were completely dominant in their first match against the Hunters, winning all their games except the women's single where Saina Nehwal lost to Carolina Marin. Nehwal, who made her comeback following a serious injury, said she was happy to be back playing despite losing her match.
"I think it was a difficult journey for me from injury. I am happy to be playing. She (Marin) played yesterday and she is used to the conditions. I am happy that I am coming back" Hindustan times quoted Nehwal as saying.
The Awadhe Warriors will fancy their chances of winning this match against the Delhi Acers with the defending champions not in the best of form at the moment and they will also expect Nehwal to get back to winning ways with this match.
The Delhi Acers have not had the best of starts to their PBL title defense after losing to Bengaluru Blasters in the first match followed by a complete hammering at the hands of the Mumbai Rockets. The Delhi Acers have a lot of top quality badminton players among their ranks, but for some reason they have not been able to find that winning formula so far.
The Acers will turn to Jan O Jorgensen and Son Wan Ho, two of the best men's badminton players in the world as they look to get their campaign back on track. Along with them, the whole team in general will have to up their performance in the coming matches. Vladimir Ivanov, who was such a dominating figure in the Premier Badminton League last season, has not been able to gel well alongside his doubles partner and compatriot Ivan Sozonov. The duo will really have to work on their game as another loss for the Acers will reduce their chances of making it into the semifinals.
Where to watch live
The Premier Badminton League match between the Awadhe Warriors and Delhi Acers is set to start at 7:00 pm IST
India: TV: Star Sports 1/HD1 (English), Star Sports 3/HD3 (Hindi). Live Streaming: Hotstar
