The Delhi Acers defeated the Bengaluru TopGuns 5-2 in their last home match at the Siri Fort comples on Friday, to round off their home leg in perfect fashion.
Here’s how the action unfolded:
1.Men’s Singles: Ajay Jayaram(DA) vs Sameer Verma(BTG)
The opening game saw a very keen contest as both players clinched 6 out of their opening 12 points before Jayaram won two points straight to go 8-6 up at the interval mark. The other side of the break saw Jayaram keep a tight grip on proceedings as he put pressure on his opponent, by chipping away with the points at regular intervals before winning the game 15-10.
The second game saw Jayaram get off the blocks quickly, racing away to a 4-1 lead before further strengthening his position to head into the interval with an 8-2 lead. After the interval, Verma made a superb comeback clinching 7 out of the next 8 points to level the score at 9-9 before taking the lead at 11-9. But the tide shifted sides again at the 12-12 mark when Jayaram clinched three points straight to win the game 15-12
Final Scoreline: Ajay Jayaram beat Sameer Verma 15-10 15-12
2.Men’s Doubles: Koon Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong(DA) vs Khim Wah Lim/Koon Thien How(BTG) [Trump match called by DA]
The opening game saw the Delhi pair take the upper hand taking a 5-3 early lead before extending it to 8-5 at the interval mark. The other side of the interval saw the pair continue to dominate proceedings as they allowed very little opening to the Top Guns pair and eventually clinched the game 15-9.
The second game saw both pairs win 3 out of their opening 6 points but it was the Top Guns pair who gained the early advantage, clinching two points straight to go 5-3 up. But Keat and Heong fought back, to level scores at 5-5.and then in an intense few points, held their nerve to go 8-7 up at the interval. The other side of the break saw the Delhi pair further bolster their advantage, not letting the Top Guns to enter into the game at any point to eventually clinch the tie 15-10.
Final scoreline- Koon Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong beat Khim Wah Lim/Koon Thien How 15-9 15-10
3.Men’s Singles: Rajiv Ouseph(DA) vs Kidambi Srikanth(BTG)
The opening game saw Srikanth get off to a confident start, taking a 4-0 lead to put early pressure on his opponent and built that lead further to go 8-1 up at the interval mark. The other side of the interval saw Srikanth absolutely boss the game and eventually clinched the game 15-4.
The second game saw Srikanth take an early 4-1 lead before Ouseph reduced the deficit to 1 to make it 3-4. Bu at the 4-6 mark, Ouseph clinched two points straight to level the scores at 6-6 and he eventually took an 8-7 lead at the break.
The other side of the interval saw Ouseph further stretch his lead and he eventually clinched the game 15-11 to take the match into a decider.
The decider saw Ouseph carry the moment tum forward, as he took a 5-2 lead before leading 8-4 at the interval and leave Srikanth with everything to do. But the Indian could do very little at the other end of the break as Ouseph romped home to a 15-9 game win to hand the Acers a 4-0 lead.
Final Scoreline- Rajiv Ouseph beat Kidambi Srikanth 4-15 15-11 15-9
4.Women’s Singles: Shikha Gautam(DA) vs Suo Di(BTG)[Trump Match called by BTG]
The opening game saw the Chinese start in positive fashion as she raced away to a 6-3 lead before clinching two more points straight to go 8-3 up at the break. Di dominated proceedings even after the break and clinched the game 15-5.
The second game saw the Chinese take the upper hand from the 2-2 mark, as she first clinched 2 out of the next 3 points to go 4-3 up before heading into the interval with an 8-3 advantage.
The other end of the break of the interval saw similar scenes unfold as the Chinese dominated proceedings completely to seal the game 15-6 and give her side their opening points on the night.
Final Scoreline- Suo Di beat Shikha Gautam 15-5 15-6
5.Mixed Doubles: Koon Kiet Keat/Gabrielle Adcock(DA) vs Khim Wah Lim/Ashwini Ponnappa(BTG)
The opening game started off with the pair of Keat and Adcock racing away to a 5-1 lead before the Topguns stormed back, clinching 6 out of the next 8 points to level scores at 7-7. After leading at the interval, Adcock and Keat maintained the lead even as Ponnappa and How remained in the hunt and at the 13-13 mark, held their nerve to win the opening game 15-14.
The second game saw the pair of Ponnappa and Lim come storming back as they raced away to a 7-1 lead before winning the game 15-9 and take the match to a decider.
The decider started off with neither pairs giving an inch but at the 4-4 mark, it was Ponnappa and Lim who took the upper hand, taking a 6 point lead to go 10-4 up. However, it was at that point that Adcock and Kat came roaring back, winning a 11 points out of the next 13 to clinch the 15-12 and inflict yet another loss on the TopGuns.
Final Scoreline- Koon Kien Keat/Gabrielle Adcock beat Khim Wah Lim/Ashwini Ponnappa 15-14 9-15 15-12
