In front of a vociferous crowd at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, The Delhi Acers beat the Mumbai Rockets 5-0 to confirm their position on top of the 2016 Premier Badminton League standings.
Here’s how all the action unfolded:
1.Mixed Doubles: Akshay Dewalkar/Aparna Balan(DA) vs Vladimir Ivanov/Kamilla Juhl(MR)
The first match of the day saw the Rockets pair take a 3-1 lead before the Acers fought back to first level the scores at 4-4 and then take the lead at 5-4. It was a topsy-turvy game after that, but at the 7-7 mark, it was Ivanov and Juhl who went ahead to lead 8-7 at the break.
The other side of the interval saw Dewalkar and Balan fight back, clinching 4 out of the next 6 points to go 12-9 up. But courtesy a three-point streak, the Rockets pair came back to level the score at 12-12 before winning 3 out of the next 4 points to win the opening game 15-13.
The second game began on a positive note for the Acers as they took a 3-1 lead before stretching it to 5-2 at which point the Rockets made a fine fightback to level the score at 5-5 and then won 3 points straight to go 8-5 up at the interval.
The other side of the interval saw the Rockets further extend their advantage and despite the best efforts of Dewalkar and Balan, clinched the game 15-11 to get their team off to a good start.
Final Scoreline- Vladimir Ivanov/Kamilla Juhl beat Akshay Dewalkar/Aparna Balan 15-13 15-11
2.Women’s Singles: PC Thulasi(DA) vs Ruthvika Gadde(MR)[Trump called by MR]
The opening game saw Thulasi take an early 3-1 lead and looked good to head into the break with a big lead before, at the 7-3 mark, Gadde made a fine comeback into the game, winning 5 points straight to head into the interval with an 8-7 lead. The other side of the break saw Thulasi regain the lead, first at 9-8 and then at 10-9 and clinched 5 out of the next 6 points to win the opening game 15-11 to put big pressure on Gadde to make a comeback.
The second game saw Gadde take a 3-1 lead before extending to 5-1 and eventually went into the interval with an 8-5 lead. She extended that lead to 10-6 after the break before winning 5 out of the next 7 points to win the 15-8.
The decider began on an even note as both players won 2 out of their opening 4 points before Gadde took a 3-2 lead before Thulasi took the upper hand at the 4-4 mark, winning 2 points straight to go 6-4 up. But Gadde made a fine comeback at that point, winning 4 out of the 5 points to take an 8-7 lead at the break.
However, it looked as if the break had done Thulasi a world of good as she won two points straight to take a 9-7 lead after the break. Although Gadde fought back to level the score at 10-10, it was Thulasi all the way after that as she won 5 out of the next 8 points to win the decider 15-10 and make it 1-1.
Final Scoreline- PC Thulasi beat Ruthvika Gadde 15-11 8-15 15-13
3.Men’s Singles: Tommy Sugiarto(DA) vs HS Prannoy(MR)
The opening game saw both players win 2 out of their opening 4 points before it was the Indian who took the upper hand, winning 3 points straight to go 5-2 up. But at the 7-3 mark, Sugiarto came back storming into the game, clinching 5 points on the trot to go 8-7 up at the break.
The Indonesian continued to extend his lead after the interval, chipping away with the points to eventually seal it 15-8.
The second game saw Sugiarto carry forward his momentum as he took a 3-1 early lead before extending it to 8-3 at the interval mark. The domination continued at the other end as Prannoy seemed absolutely clueless for the large part of the contest against the 2015 Indonesia Masters winner and he clinched the game 15-6 to round off one of the most one-sided matches of the competition.
Final Scoreline- Tommy Sugiarto beat HS Prannoy 15-8 15-6
4.Men’s Doubles: Koon Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong(DA) vs Mathias Boe/Vladimir Ivanov(MR)
The opening game saw the Rockets pair take a 3-1 lead in the opening game before extending the advantage to 5-3 at which point the duo of Keat and Heong clinched two points straight to make it 5-5. But at the 7-7 mark, it was the Rockets who took the lead, to go into the break at 8-7.
The other side of the break saw the pair of Boe and Ivanov extend their advantage further and they took the game 15-11 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second game saw the pair of Boe and Ivanov take an early 3-2 lead, but the Acers came back strongly to level the score at 4-4. before taking a 6-5 lead. But the Rockets pair clinched 3 out of the next 4 points to lead 8-6 at the break.
After the break, the Rockets continued to lead, but at the 10-7 mark, the Acers won two points straight to reduce the deficit to one and make it 10-9 and at the 11-11 mark, took the lead at 13-11, before eventually winning the game 15-12.
The second game saw the Acers take a 3-1 lead before Boe and Ivanov fought back to take a 4-3 lead. They then extended their lead further and went into the interval with an 8-6 lead.
The other side of the break saw of the interval saw the Acers further tighten their grip over proceedings, leading by at least 3 points at all stages of the game to eventually win it 15-10.
Final Scoreline- Koon Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong beat Mathias Boe/Vladimir Ivanov 15-11 12-15 15-10
5.Men’s Singles: Rajiv Ouseph(DA) vs RMV Gurusaidutt(MR)[Trump match called by DA]
The opening game saw Ouseph take an early 3-0 lead before stretching it a whopping 8-2 at the interval mark. The other side of the interval saw the Englishman further bolster his lead and he eventually won the game 15-7 to get off to a blazing start in the Trump Match.
The second game saw Ouseph carry the domination forward as he took a 3-1 lead in the game before Gurusaidutt fought back to level the score at 3-3. However, at the 5-5 mark, Ouseph clinched three points straight to go 8-5 up at the break.
The domination of Ouseph continued at the other end as well but at the 6-10 mark, Gurusaidutt clinched two points to close the gap to 2. However, Ouseph provided no more openings to his opponent after that and seal the game 15-10.
Final Scoreline- Rajiv Ouseph beat RMV Gurusaidutt 15-7 15-10
