PBL: Bengaluru Blasters blanks Mumbai Rockets

Bengaluru Blasters wound up with an all-win record, to take six points from the match and reach the top of the table with 11 points. On the other hand, Mumbai Rockets lost one point, as it lost its trump match, and thus would be reduced to six points from the seven earned earlier.

Playing as the trump, Axelsen sealed it for Bengaluru Blasters as it took an unbeatable 4-0 lead against the Rockets.

World No.1 Viktor Axelsen asserted himself yet again as he clinched it for Bengaluru Blasters against Mumbai Rockets with a 15-5, 15-13 victory over Son Wan Ho in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League at the Babu Banarasi Das Stadium here on Monday evening.

Playing as the trump, Axelsen sealed it for Bengaluru Blasters as it took an unbeatable 4-0 lead against the Rockets, which had failed to capitalise on the chances, especially in the first doubles.

After having got off the blocks brilliantly in its first match by accumulating five points against Delhi, Bengaluru surged ahead of five teams that had collected eight points so far.

As it happened

It was to the credit of Kirsty Gilmour who played the women’s singles as she consolidated on the good start with a surprisingly straight forward victory over Beiwen Zhang, after a tussle in the first game.

Mumbai Rockets with seven points so far, did threaten to gather some points through its trump Sameer Verma int he fourth singles, against left-hander Chong Wei Feng, but it was not to be. After winning the first game, Sameer was unable to sustain the quality fare even as Chong Wei Feng stepped it up nicely to race to victory.

It meant Bengaluru taking its tally to five points from the match and ten in two games, while it meant a negative point for Mumbai, which had twice finished runner-up in the league.

Earlier Kim Sa Rang and Sikki Reddy combined very well to down Gabriela Stoeva and MR Arjun after a slump in the middle game. That match looked to set the tone for the evening, but Bengaluru emerged too strong.

Action will hot up with Awadhe Warriors, the team representing Lucknow, taking on Ahmedabad Smash Masters on Tuesday.

The results:

Bengaluru Blasters BT Mumbai Rockets 6-0 (-1): (Kim Sa Rang & Sikki Reddy bt Gabriela Stoeva & MR Arjun 15-8, 10-15, 15-10; Kirsty Gilmour bt Beiwen Zhang 15-14, 15-8; (T) Viktor Axelsen bt Son Wan Ho 15-6, 15-13; Chong Wei Feng bt (T) Sameer Verma 9-15, 15-8, 15-6; Boe Mathias & Kim Sa Rang . . . Lee Yong Dae & Tan Boon Heong 9-15, 15-10, 15-14).