The Hyderabad Hunters suffered a 4-1 loss top the Mumbai Smashers in the opening match of the double header at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Monday, thereby getting themselves out of the semifinal race.
Here’s how all the action unfolded:
1.Women’s Singles: Supanida Kathetong(HH) vs Liuz Di(MR)
The opening tie saw Die take the upper hand as she took a 4-3 lead before stretching it to 8-5 at the interval mark. The other side of the break saw the player from China stretch her lead, but at the 6-10 mark, Kathetong won three points straight to reduce the lead to 1. But Die held on to her advantage and eventually clinched the game 15-13.
The second game saw Kathetong make a good start, as he raced away to a 4-1 lead but at the 5-1 mark, Die clinched two points straight to close the gap a bit. But despite that, it was the Thai who led 8-6 at the break.
The other side of the break saw the Chinese make a fine comeback as she clinched 4 out of the next 6 points to level the scores at 10-10. Kathetong took the lead again at the 12-12 mark and clinched two more points to head into game point situation. But Die clinched two points over own to level scores at 14-14 and take the game into a sudden death where the Hunters player held her nerve to win it 15-14 and take the match into a decider.
The decider saw Kathetong take a 2-1 lead and then at the 3-3 mark, regained the advantage clinching 5 points straight to head into the interval with an 8-3 lead. The other side of the break saw her dominate proceedings further, but a the 14-10 mark, Die make an unbelievable comeback to level the scores at 14-14 but she failed to hold her nerve for a second time in the match and lost the game 14-15 to hand Kathetong the win.
Final Scoreline- Supanida Kathetong beat Liuz Di 13-15 15-14 15-14
2.Men’s Doubles: Carsten Mogensen/Markos Kido(HH) vs Chayut Triyachart/Vladimir Ivanov(MR)
The opening game saw Mogensen and Kido take a 4-0 lead before the Mumbai pair clinched 4 points of their own to level the score at 4-4. But at the 5-5 mark, it was the Hunters pair who took the upper hand, winning 3 points straight to go 8-5 up in the game.
The other side of the break saw the Hunters pair continue to dominate proceedings and they eventually clinched the 15-7.
The second game saw both pairs win 2 out of their opening 4 points before the pairing of Triyachart and Ivanov took the lead, winning 2 points straight to go 4-2 up. But at the 4-6 mark, the pair of Mogensen and Kido made a superb comeback, winning 4 points straight to go into the break with an 8-6 lead. The other side of the break saw the pair continue to hold all the aces and despite a valiant comeback from the Rockets pairs, eventually sealed the game 15-14 to make it 2-0 for their side.
Final Scoreline-Carsten Mogensen/Markos Kido beat Chayut Triyachart/Vladimir Ivanov 15-7 15-14
3.Men’s Singles: Parupalli Kashyap(HH) vs HS Prannoy(MR) [Trump Match by HH]
The opening game saw both players win 2 out of their opening 4 points before Kashyap took the lead at the 4-3 mark, but Prannoy made a good comeback into the match, taking the lead at the 6-5 mark before winning 2 out of the next 3 points straight to head into break with an 8-6 lead.
The other side of the break saw Prannoy further strengthen his position in the game as Kashyap failed to get any consistency in his game and he eventually sealed it 15-11 to give his side a good start in the tie.
The second game saw Kashyap get off to a good start as he took a 3-2 lead but Prannoy made yet another comeback into the match and at the 6-6 mark, clinched 2 points straight to go 8-6 up at the interval.The other end of the break saw Kashyap start off in a positive fashion as he clinched 4 points start to go 10-8 up. But at the 11-9 mark, Prannoy made yet another comeback, first to level the score at 11-11 and clinched 4 out of the next 6 points to clinch the game 15-13 and with that the tie as well.
Men’s Singles: HS Prannoy beat Parupalli Kashyap 15-11 15-13
4.Men’s Singles: Siril Verma(HH) vs RMV Gurusaidutt(MR)[Trump Match called by MR]
The opening game saw Gurusaidutt take a 3-1 lead but the 16-year-old Verma, made a quick comeback, to level the scores at 4-4 and then took the lead to eventually stretch it to 8-4 at the interval mark.
The other side of the break saw the youngster further extend his lead, but Gurusaidutt made a fine comeback at the 10-7 mark, winning 3 points straight to level scores at 10-10. and then took the lead at the 12-11 mark. He then went on to win the game 15-12 to give his side a one game lead.
The second game saw Gurusaidutt take a 3-2 lead before Verma fought back to level the score at 4-4. But the latter took control of proceedings after that and took an 8-4 lead at the interval. Gurusaidutt then went for the kill at the other end of the break clinching an unbelievable 11 points straight to win the game 15-4.
Final Scoreline- RMV Gurusaidutt beat Siril Verma 15-12 15-4
5.Mixed Doubles: Markis Kido/Jwala Gutta vs Vladimir Ivanov/Kamilla Juhl
The opening game saw the Hunters pair take a 2-1 lead but the Rockets duo made a strong comeback, clinching 3 points to go 4-2 up. The cat-and-mouse match continued after that but it was the pair of Ivanov and Juhl who went 8-7 ahead at the break.
The other side of the break saw the Rockers pair take total control of proceedings and they clinched 7 out of the next 8 points to win the game 15-8.
The second game saw the Rockets pair get off to a flyer as they raced away to a 6-2 lead before stretching it to 8-2 at the break. The other side of the break saw Ivanov and Juhl totally boos the contest and they eventually clinched the tie 15-8.
Final Scoreline- Vladimir Ivanov/Kamilla Juhl beat Markos Kido/Jwala Gutta 15-8 15-8.
