Premier Badminton League 2020: Hyderabad Hunters vs Bengaluru Raptors | Preview, where to watch, head-to-head and timings

Tie 13 of Premier Badminton League 2020 will be one of the best of the season so far. It will be a battle of two PBL Champions as 2018-19 Winners Bengaluru Raptors lock horns with 2017-18 winners Hyderabad Hunters.

Bengaluru have not had an ideal run in the tournament thus far. The Raptors have lost all their three ties - against North Eastern Warriors, Chennai Superstarz, and Pune 7 Aces - with an identical 3-4 scoreline. Their Mixed doubles pair of Peng Soon Chan and Eom Hye Won have been fairly impressive and won two of their three encounters in the tournament. Meanwhile, marquee Indian player Sai Praneeth ended up on the losing side on two occasions but won his battle against K.Y.Loh of Pune 7 Aces in the previous tie.

As expected, Tai Tzu Ying has inspired the Bengaluru-based franchise by winning all three of her clashes, two of which were trump matches. The Men's Doubles pair of Arun George and Rian Agung Saputro are yet to register a win in the campaign and this is one category the Raptors are lacking a little in. Furthermore, Brice Leverdez has been disappointing in the Men's Singles category and the French ace will be in search of his first win when his side locks horns with Hyderabad.

The Hunters, on the other hand, have turned things around quite well after their 2-5 loss to Chennai Superstarz in the season opener. The Rajendra Kumar-coached unit defeated Awadhe Warriors 2-1 at the Babu Banarasi Das U.P. Badminton Academy in Lucknow. PV Sindhu and Sourabh Verma won their respective singles clashes comfortably while and the Men's Doubles pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ben Lane also emerged triumphant against Awadhe. Daren Liew's loss in the trump match meant that the Hunters took home only 2 points despite winning the tie.

Next, the Hyderabad-based franchise defeated North Eastern Warriors with a familiar 2-1 scoreline. India's top-ranked women's shuttler Sindhu suffered an upset against Michelle Li. However, Daren Liew won his encounter this time around. The Mixed Doubles combine of Sikki Reddy and Ivanov also displayed some stunning strokes in their 2-1 victory over K.P. Garaga and K.H.Na of North East.

Despite a string of three losses, Bengaluru are placed above Hyderabad Hunters on the overall points table with 9 points. The Hunters are reeling in the 6th position as they have only amassed 6 points in the PBL so far. As far as the tournament format goes, just winning ties is not important and low scoring wins do not help the cause in qualification for the semis.

Hyderabad will be looking to make the most of their home advantage and register a third win on the trot while Bengaluru will aim to break the deadlock and finally win their first tie of PBL 2020.

Key battle

A blockbuster clash awaits us as PV Sindhu will be taking on Current World Number 2 Tai Tzu Ying in the Women's Singles encounter.

Here is all the information you need to know about Day 12, PBL 2020 Schedule:

Tie: Hyderabad Hunters vs Bengaluru Raptors

Tournament: Premier Badminton League Season 5

Venue: G. M. C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad

Date: 31 January 2020

Time: 7:00 PM IST onwards

Head-to-head: Hyderabad Hunters 3 - 0 Bengaluru Raptors

Where to watch the matches in India?

Hyderabad Hunters vs Bengaluru Raptors will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD.

PBL Day 12 Live stream details

Live Stream for PBL Day 12 will be available on Hotstar.com

Follow Sportskeeda to get the full PBL 2020 schedule, PBL Points table, latest news & updates