PBL: Pune 7 Aces hopes to make it count at home

Playing in front of the home crowd, Pune 7 Aces will be hoping to hit form in the ongoing Premier Badminton League Season 4, when the action gets underway at the Balewadi indoor stadium on Saturday.

Captained by Carolina Marin, the league debutant was outclassed by champion Hyderabad Hunters in the event opener at Mumbai’s NSCI stadium, then it elbowed out in the deciding mixed doubles tie by Awadhe Warriors in the first leg.

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Marin and her teammates got time to work on the early shortcomings and having been granted a breather during the second leg at Hyderabad, Pune will hope to bounce back.

Marin looked in fine nick during a commanding win over Beiwen Zhang in women’s singles, calling the shots against the Awadhe Warriors player and can be expected to get sharper and ruthless in time for the third leg. The home team is pitted against Bengaluru Raptors after the Balewadi opener against Mumbai Rockets.

Indian players in the franchise include Ajay Jayaram, Lakshya Sen, Harsheel Dani (men’s singles), Chirag Shetty (men’s doubles) and Prajakta Samant (mixed doubles).

Saturday’s second tie will feature North Eastern Warriors and Delhi Dashers.