Pune 7 Aces surprised table-topper Chennai Superstarz 5-2 in tie 11 of the Premier Badminton League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
However, Chennai continues to be at the top with 15 points, while Pune moved up a spot to second with 14 points.
For Pune, the left-right combination of Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock proved to be too good for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Jessica Pugh in the mixed doubles match as the husband-wife pair wrapped up the match 15-10, 15-12 with a high quality display of great coordination at the net and Chris' telling smashes.
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Later, in the Trump match for Chennai, world No. 30 Kirsty Gilmour made short work of world No.100 Rituparna Das with a 15-10, 15-12 win.
The Scottish player mixed some great cross-court strokes with delectable drops to repeatedly push the young Indian on to the backfoot.
Then the focus was on the fast-improving world No. 32 Lakshya Sen of Chennai. And, he too had a convincing 11-6 lead in the first game before Loh Ken Yew picked five points in-a-row to eventually win the game.
In the second game, Lakshya again led 6-4, relying more on his big smashes down the line and to take the issue into the decider.
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In the decider, Yew raised the bar and was vastly superior to outsmart the young Indian shuttler, getting those cross-court drops to near perfection to win the contest.
With team scores tied two-all, the onus was on Chirag Shetty and Hendra Setiawan for Pune's Trump match.
And, they lived up to the expectations with a clinical performance under pressure. After losing the first game 15-12, Satwiksairaj and Sumeeth Reddy did fight back brilliantly to level the scores at 14-all, after trailing 7-11. But, when it mattered most, they faltered to give Pune an unbeatable lead.
- NORTH EASTERN WARRIORS CRUISE PAST MUMBAI ROCKETS -
A day after losing to Hyderabad Hunters, North Eastern Warriors bounced back to beat the Mumbai Rockets in the second tie of a double-header Thurday in PBL-5. The Warriors were in control of the tie right from the start with Michelle Li, Lee Cheuk Yiu, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and the mixed doubles pair of Lee Yong Dae and Kim Ha Na each fetching a win for the team.
Li had stunned world champion PV Sindhu a day ago. It wasn't much different today as the former Commonwealth Games gold medallist staved off a challenge from rising talent Shreyanshi Pardeshi to win her side's Trump match, 15-9, 15-11.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS | PBL, As it Happened: North Eastern Warriors beats Mumbai Rockets 5-2
Lee Cheuk Yiu had previously lost both his BWF meetings against Parupalli Kashyap with their most recent match happening at the India Open last March. But this time it was a very different version of the North Eastern Warriors shuttler who was riding high on confidence. Cheuk Yiu’s aggression and quick footwork made life difficult for the Indian who conceded the opening game 12-15.
Kashyap, however, was able to remain close on Cheuk Yiu's heels at 7-8 in the second game but a barrage of scorching smashes from the Warriors ace took the game away from the Mumbai shuttler. Lee’s pace and power was too much for the Indian to handle as Lee raced away to a 14-7 lead.
Kashyap was able to make a late push as he took four points in a row but the Hong Kong ace made no mistake after that as he wrapped up the match and sealed the tie for North Eastern Warriors.
Earlier, the legendary Lee Yong Dae and Kim Ha Na displayed some steely resolve and grit to grind out a 15-7, 5-15, 15-10 win over Mumbai’s Kim Sa Rang and Pia Zebadiah in the mixed doubles rubber.
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