The second day of the Premier Badminton League will see Hyderabad Hunters take on Awadhe Warriors at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, January 2. It will be the last game in Hyderabad before the tournament moves on to Mumbai. On Monday, Hyderabad Hunter's Carolina Marin will have her hands full once again as she will go toe-to-toe with another top badminton player from India in Saina Nehwal.
Check out the squads for all six teams in the PBL
Hyderabad Hunters will be looking to pick up another win in front of their home crowd as they look to make it two wins out of two. Rajiv Ouseph stole the show for the Hunters last night as it was his win against Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk that gave his side a chance to win the tie. After going a set down, he came back strong in the next two sets and completely dominated Tanongsak and set up a perfect decider in the men's doubles. Then the Malaysian duo of Tan Boon Heong and Tan wee Kiong proved to be too strong for Mads Kolding and Sumeeth Reddy.
Hyderabad Hunters will be looking to continue this winning run, but it will not be an easy match for them considering all the quality of players the Awadhe Warriors possess.
Srikanth Kidambi and Vincent Wong Wing Ki will lead the line in the men's singles for Warriors. They also possess some of the best doubles players in Bodin Isara, Markis Kido and silver medallist from the 2016 Rio Olympics in Goh W Shem. Savitree Amitrapai, a Silver medallist at the 2016 Swiss Open, will be another crucial player for Warriors in the mixed doubles category. Despite all these stars, all eyes will no doubt be on Saina Nehwal in this match as she faces off against Carolina Marin.
In the head-to-head record between the two, Nehwal holds the upper hand winning four out of seven matches. However, in the last four encounters between the two, Marin has won three with her most recent victory being at the BCA Indonesian Open where she defeated Nehwal in straight sets. This match is perfectly set up as both players will be determined to show the badminton world who is the better player.
Where to watch live
The Premier Badminton League match between Hyderabad Hunters vs Awadhe Warriors is set to start at 7 pm IST.
India: TV: Star Sports 1/HD1 (English), Star Sports 3/HD3 (Hindi). Live Streaming: Hotstar