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All eyes will be on the Saina Nehwal vs Carolina Marin contest as the Awadhe Warriors take on the Hyderabad Hunters in Tie No. 16 of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2018 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. The pressure is on the Hyderabad franchise for they are languishing at the bottom of the eight-team table while the Lucknow team is currently at the second spot.
The Hunters got a 0-5 drubbing at the hands of the Delhi Dashers in their last outing. Suffice to say, every member has to perform today against a team that is high on confidence, despite their 1-4 loss against the Mumbai Rockets in their last assignment.
It will indeed be the women's singles match that will be the cynosure of all eyes. The two last crossed swords in the first round of the Denmark Open where Saina upset the Olympic champion. Today's battle will provide a good test of their fitness.
Marin has come to this tournament after a hip injury robbed her of a chance to play at the Dubai World Superseries Finals. Saina too could not feature in the first match of PBL 2018 because of a niggle in her ankle.
Both have been recovering well from their respective injuries and this match will help both of them get an idea of how much work they still need to do.
Kidambi Srikanth vs B Sai Praneeth will be another good battle for all Indian fans. Kidambi, , showed flashes of his brilliance in his defeat of the World No. 5 Son Wan Ho. It will be interesting to see how he fares against an opponent, whom he traditionally struggles against.
Parupalli Kashyap, who was rested in Awadhe's last match, will be locking horns with the Denmark Open runner-up Lee Hyun Il and that too promises to be an exciting clash for the fans.
Here is all the information you need to know
Tournament name: Premier Badminton League Season 3
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai
Date: Sunday, January 7, 2018
Time: Awadhe Warriors vs Hyderabad Hunters 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.
Hyderabad Hunters - B Sai Praneeth, Lee Hyun Il, Rahul Yadav Chittaboina, Carolina Marin, Rasika Raje, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Yoo Yeon-Seong, Markis Kido, Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth, Anoushka Parikh.
