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Tie No. 11 of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2018 promises to be an enthralling contest as the Awadhe Warriors take on the Ahmedabad Smash Masters in a clash of heavyweights at the Babu Banarasi Das U.P. Badminton Academy in Lucknow on Tuesday. While the Warriors are placed in the second position, the Ahmedabad franchise is right after them in the overall PBL 2018 standings.
Both the teams are blessed with some of the biggest names from the badminton world, which is why this clash will be a treat for lovers of this sport. In the women’s singles department, the Warriors’ Saina Nehwal has a tough task as she faces the World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
Tai leads their head-to-head record 8-5 and won their last six meetings, but it is to be noted that three of those matches went the distance. The Chinese Taipei ace might be looking imperious but Saina surely possesses the tools to make her work hard for the win.
In men’s singles, all eyes will be on the mouthwatering all-Indian face-off between the Warriors’ Srikanth Kidambi and the Smash Masters’ HS Prannoy. Srikanth squandered a one-game lead to lose his last PBL outing to the World No. 11 Wang Tzu Wei and would be upbeat to get a win this time.
Moreover, he should be doubly motivated for this match since he lost his last encounter to HS Prannoy at the Senior National Championships final. The latter is coming into this match riding on a nine-match winning streak in PBL and would be one feisty customer.
The second men's singles match too will be one must-watch for Indian fans as Lucknow's Parupalli Kashyap takes on Ahmedabad's Sourabh Verma. The Commonwealth Games champion should be favoured in this one, given his form and experience.
In the mixed doubles match, regular women's doubles partners, Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen will be crossing swords and that is sure to produce one cracker of a contest.
Here is all the information you need to know
Tournament name: Premier Badminton League Season 3
Venue: Babu Banarasi Das U.P. Badminton Academy, Lucknow
Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Time: Awadhe Warriors vs Ahmedabad Smash Masters at 7pm IST
Channel: Star Sports 1/Star Sports 1 HD
Livestream information: Star Sports Hotstar
The squads:
Awadhe Warriors - Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap, Harshit Aggarwal, Saina Nehwal, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka, Hendra Setiawan, Or Chin Chung, Tang Chun Man, Christinna Pedersen, Mahima Aggarwal.
Ahmedabad Smash Masters - HS Prannoy, Sourabh Verma, Siril Verma, Tai Tzu Ying, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli, Law Cheuk Him, Lee Chun Hei Reginald, K Nandagopal, Kamilla Rytter Juhl, Stefani Stoeva.
