Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the fifth season of Premier Badminton League!
World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying, the highest ranked player in PBL, will be in action for defending champion Bengaluru Raptors today.
On Monday, two young boys lit up the stage with a thrilling battle. Lakshya Sen won his trump match to seal the win for Chennai Superstarz against high-spirited Priyanshu Rajawat. P.V. Sindhu, who won our Aces 2020 Sportstar of the Year award , was the lone victor for Hyderabad Hunters.
Full Report: Superstarz makes winning start
North Eastern Warriors vs Bengaluru Raptors
Blog:
MATCH 5: Tanongsak Sansomboonsuk bt Brice Leverdez 15-7, 15-8
Game 2:
15-8: NORTH EASTERN WARRIORS UPSETS BENGALURU RAPTIORS.
14-8: Match Point. Tie Point for Tanongsak.
12-8: An unforced error from the net from Brice and the match (and the tie) is slipping away from Raptors.
9-7: A 0.17s reaction time for a smash! Tanongsak goes for the kill.
7-7: A surprising service error from the Thai player.
6-5: The Frenchman goes for a body blow. No long rallies in the same game yet.
4-4: Brice hanging in there with some quick footwork and a net smash.
2-2: Unsuccessful challenge from Brice. The shuttle was long by a mile.
Game 1:
15-7: Tanangsok smashes one just inside the tramline topocket the first game. Sai Praneeth's loss is proving costly for defending champion Bengaluru Raptors.
12-7: Brice trying his best to make a game out of this. Wins three successive points.
11-4: Tanongsak completely tearing apart Brice here. He gets those angled smashes to floor Brice. No signs of recovery from the Frenchman.
8-3: Tanongsak dominates the first game, gets a five-point cushion going into the break with a smash.
3-3: Brice comes back strongly, gets Tanongsak to hit the net.
3-0: Tanongsak wins the first three points to give NorthEast the early advantage.
All the four games have been two-game affairs with the teams winning the alternate matches. The tie will be decided by the fifth and final match of the day!
Match 4: Bodin Isara / Lee Yong Dae (Trump) bt Arun George / Rian Agung Saputro 15-12, 15-6
Game 2:
15-6: Arun's net return helps North Eastern Warriors complete the win . It's 3-3 going into the decider match!
13-6: Supatro took it upon himself to play the rally out, managed for most of the 66-shot rally, but plays one to the net to give Warriors the point.
11-5: Lee Yong Dae is marshalling the net effectively. Finds the open space at the right time to slot one smash past Arun George. Warriors are targeting Arun again.
9-5: Bodin gets an angled smash in to take the point.
7-5: A net error from Lee to help Raptors bridge the gap.
2-1: A diving, falling Bodin tries his best to keep the shuttle in play, but that was one too many fall to recover in the 44-shot rally.
2-0: Warriors showing a lot of urgency to finish points. Wins the first two for a psychological advantage.
Game 1:
15-12: North Eastern Warriors wins the first game.
14-11: Lee Yong Dae caught in the wrong foot by Supatro.
The first three matches have
11-8: A fast-paced rally ends with Supatro's smash to the net.
9-8: Yet another strong attacking point from Arun George!
7-7: Arun George a weak link? Not if you come up with a smash like that from the net! Raptors and Warriors are not giving anything away.
4-3: Arun George is certainly the weaklink and Warriors are clearly targeting him to pick points.
3-1: Bengaluru gets the first point after a 36-shot rally.
North Eastern Warriors will look to level the scores through their doubles players Bodin and Lee. They will play for two points against Bengaluru Raptors in a make-or-break game for the Warriors.
MATCH 3: Asmita Chaliha lost to Tai Tzu Ying 7-15, 5-15
Game 2:
5-15: And it's over. Easy win for Tai Tzu Ying to give Bengaluru Raptors a 3-1 lead. Two points from the battle for Tai Tzu.
4-10: Ashmita trying her best to put up a challenge, but Tai Tzu is too good for the Indian.
3-8 : Easy pickings for Tai Tzu, finishes the point with a deceptive drop. Tai Tzu is the master of deception.
3-6: Tai Tzu shows her mastery, comes with a late wristwork to place it on the cross-court. Ashmita was not expecting that.
0-4: Points are coming thick and fast for Tai Tzu Ying, aided by the errors from Ashmita. The southpaw doesn't seem overawed by the stature of her opponent, but is just not able to keep shuttle in the court.
Game 1:
7-15: Tai Tzu Ying wins the first game, but Ashmita did well to challenge arguably the best player in the world.
World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying, the biggest star of the night, will be looking to collect two points from her trump match for Bengaluru Raptors against Ashmita Chaliha.
MATCH 2: Lee Cheuk Yiu bt Sai Praneeth 15-14, 15-9.
Game 2:
15-9: Lee Cheuk Yiu wins the match with yet another smash. North Eastern Warriors levels the tie 1-1 against Bengaluru Raptors.
14-9: Match point for Lee after a smash.
13-9: Sai not giving up easily. Waits for the right time to finish the point with a cross-court smash.
12-7: Sai makes a diving return and follows it up with a smash.
11-5: Sai Praneeth errs at the net.
10-5 : Lee is running away with the match now. He gets across an hard smash to take a five-point lead.
8-4: Seven straight points for Lee as he takes the mid-game lead.
7-4: A flat cross-court smash from Lee to leave Sai Praneeth gasping. It probably passed just an inch above the net.
4-4: Lee levels from 1-4 down. He has been playing well this year. He reached the semifinals of Indonesia Masters.
1-3: Sai comes up with a brilliant cross court smash to go 3-1 up in the second game. He is moving quite well in the court today.
Game 1:
15-14: Lee Cheuk wins Game 1. No two-point difference needed to clinch the game and Sai errs with a return sailing long.
14-14: Lee had a game point but Sai Praneeth is ready for the challenge. The Indian pushes Lee outside the court with great placements and completes the point with a drop at the net.
12-12: After some fierce exchange at the net, Lee gets lucky with a net chord to level the score. Good call from the teams not to pick this match as a trump. Hard to separate the two.
8-8: It's going neck and neck with Lee also going for the attack.
7-6: There is a strong drift due to the airconditioning in the stadium. Sai sees the ball sailing wide to his right. He concede two points.
3-4: Sai's deceptive on point so far. He is trying to keep the rallies short to play to his advantage.
0-2: Sai Praneeth with a drop and a smash to go 2-0 against the player from Hong Kong. Lee Yiu is making his PBL debut this year.
Sai Praneeth, who won the bronze medal in World Championships, faces Hong Kong Open champion Lee Cheuk Yiu.
MATCH 1: Lee Yong Dae/Kim Ha Na (NE) lost to Chan Peng Soon/ Eom Hye Won (Bengaluru) 8-15, 11-15
Game 2:
11-15: BENGALURU TAKES THE FIRST MATCH TO GO 1-0.
9-10: Chan Soon's power-packed smash is unretrievable. Bengaluru takes the lead for the first time in the second game.
8-7: A 29-shot rally and Bengaluru gets the winning point to bridge the deficit.
6-3: Warriors' all-Korean pair making a strong comeback with some smart net game from Kim Ha Na.
2-2: It's always fascinating to watch doubles and mixed doubles in badminton just for the swift returns and net reflexes. This match is turning out to be perfect example for that. Most of the points going to long rallies.
Game 1:
8-15: Bengaluru wins first game. Chan Soon and Eom Won give Bengaluru the perfect start with solid returns. The Malaysian-Korean pair have no trouble despite this being their first match together.
5-8: Bengaluru Raptors takes the mid-game lead as the defending champion kickstarts its campaign against North Eastern Warriors. No early jitters from the miixed doubles pair of and Soon and Won.
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