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The 20th tie of Premier Badminton League 2020 will be played between Hyderabad Hunters and Pune 7 Aces. PV Sindhu-led Hunters will need to register a massive win in this tie as they still have an outside chance of making it to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Pune 7 Aces, who qualified for the semis by virtue of a 4-1 win over Awadhe Warriors in their previous tie, will be looking to give a few opportunities to a few untested players in PBL 2020.
The Hyderabad-based franchise have managed to win three out of five ties so far but two of them were low-scoring wins - as a result of which they are reeling in the bottom half of the table and are on the brink of elimination.
The Rajendra Kumar-coached unit registered 2-1 wins against Awadhe Warriors and North Eastern Warriors. They suffered defeats against Chennai Superstarz and Bengaluru Raptors. Hyderabad registered their biggest win of the season so far in their last tie against Mumbai Rockets by defeating them 4-3.
The Chennai-based franchise was 0-3 down but they ensured a massive turnaround. PV Sindhu won her trump match against Shriyanshi Pardeshi while Priyanshu Rajawat upset L.D.Keun in his men's singles encounter. Finally, Vladimir Ivanov and Sikki Reddy defeated Kim Sa Rang and Pia Bernadeth 15-8 15-8 in the deciding tie to seal the deal and complete a phenomenal comeback for Hyderabad.
On the other hand, Pune 7 Aces have won four of their five ties played so far. They started their campaign with a commanding 5-2 win over Mumbai Rockets followed by a close 4-3 win over Bengaluru, and then another convincing 5-2 over Chennai Superstarz.
A heartbreaking 0-5 loss to North Eastern Warriors has been Pune's only blip in the otherwise commendable PBL 2020 campaign.
Pune were back to winning ways in their previous tie against Awadhe Warriors. The highlight was Pune's Rituparna Das upsetting World No.14 Beiwen Zhang in the women's singles encounter. It will be interesting to see if she can give PV Sindhu a good fight in the upcoming tie.
The Aces' mixed doubles pair of Chris and Gabrielle Adcock have also been impressive. The men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Hendra Setiawan have wreaked havoc to their opponents and won four of their five encounters. Their loss against K.S.Hyun and S.B.Cheol of Awadhe seems like a rare slip-up and they can be expected to bounce back strongly when they go up against Hyderabad Hunters' Ben Lane and Vladimir Ivanov.
Over in men's singles, Singapore's Kean Yew Loh has been fairly impressive while Japanese ace Kazumasa Sakai has also shown glimpses of his ability in parts.
The Hyderabad Hunters will be looking to give their home fans something to cheer about and sign off on a high. However, a win by a big margin seems unlikely against the in-form Pune side, who will themselves be looking to enter the semis full of confidence.
Here is all the information you need to know about day 17, Tie 20 and the PBL 2020 Schedule:
Tie: Hyderabad Hunters vs Pune 7 Aces
Tournament: Premier Badminton League Season 5
Venue: G. M. C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad
Date: 5th February 2020
Time: 7:00 PM IST onwards
Head-to-head: Hyderabad Hunters 1 - 0 Pune 7 Aces
Where to watch the matches in India?
Hyderabad Hunters vs Pune 7 Aces will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD.
PBL Day 17 live stream details
Live Stream for PBL Day 17 will be available on Hotstar.com
Follow Sportskeeda to get the full PBL 2020 schedule, PBL Points table, latest news & updates
