PBL 2018-19: 3 epic clashes to look forward to in the Bengaluru leg

With the PBL caravan set to come to Bengaluru for its final leg, the Sree Kanteerava Indoor stadium is set to witness some exciting matches. The semi-finals and final too will be played here. Though the matches during the semis and final will understandably be the most sought after, the league matches among the various teams, too, promise to be quite exciting. This is especially so since the top four positions have not yet been confirmed.

So, there is a lot to play for in this last leg. There are bound to be many great clashes. Here are three possible epic clashes that could enthrall the audience in the coming days.

#1 Kidambi Srikanth (Bengaluru Raptors) vs Sameer Verma (Mumbai Rockets)

Though the twenty-one-year-old Anders Antonsen is a higher seeded player than Sameer Verma, Mumbai Rockets may play Sameer Verma against Kidambi Srikanth. This could be for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Srikanth is the ‘local’ boy as he is playing for Bengaluru Raptors. So, he would enjoy partisan support in Bengaluru for sure. That could be unnerving for any player who plays against him, especially if he happens to be a young and inexperienced player such as Antonsen.

On the other hand, the more experienced Sameer Verma should be able to handle pressure better. And by pitting an Indian player against Srikanth, Mumbai Rockets will hope to succeed in having a more level playing field when it comes to crowd support for the two players.

Secondly, Verma has played quite well against Srikanth in his previous encounters and has never been over-awed by Srikanth’s superior pedigree. So, if this match actually comes to pass, it promises to be an enthralling one between two players with contrasting styles – an ultra-aggressive player and another with a great defensive technique and calm temperament.

#2 Beiwen Zhang (Awadhe Warriors) vs Sung Ji Hyun (Chennai Smashers)

On the face of it, a match between Beiwen Zhang and Sung Ji Hyun may not catch eyeballs. But if one were to predict the possibility of an extremely competitive match with high-quality badminton on display between two players with years of experience and consistency of performance over the years, then this could be it.

The Korean Hyun and the American Zhang are both experienced players who have given a tough time to the higher ranked players, without ever reaching the pinnacle of the game themselves. So, when Beiwen Zhang handed P V Sindhu a straight-games defeat in this PBL, it should not have come as much of a shock.

Hyun has been a former world number 2 and though her ranking has slipped, she is still capable of magic, as was seen in her excellent win over Carolina Marin in this PBL. So, expect nothing short of magical badminton when these two take to the court on 7th January.

#3 H S Prannoy (Delhi Dashers) vs Lee Hyun II (Hyderabad Hunters)

HS Prannoy was the star performer during the previous season of PBL when he had won eight matches on the trot. A lot was expected of him when he was snatched up by Delhi Dashers from Ahmedabad Smash Masters, but his performances this season has been patchy, to say the least, which has also affected the fortunes of his franchise to a great extent.

However, he is expected to put in one last fight during the Bengaluru leg and his expected opponent could be the veteran Korean southpaw Lee Hyun II. Though Prannoy is the favourite, Hyun is an extremely skilled and experienced player. Even at a ‘ripe old’ age of 38, he continues to be a top 20 player.

He is playing some of his best badminton in the last two years, and his performance in the Denmark Open last year where he reached the summit clash getting the better of many higher ranked players, proves that he is a fighter and would not go down easily. This promises to be another mouth-watering clash in the last leg of this year’s PBL.