Tanya Hemanth shines as Malnad Falcons register first win in Grand Prix Badminton League

Tanya Hemanth guided the Malnad Falcons to their first win in the Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL) in Bengaluru on Monday.

The international shuttler won both her matches as the Malnad Falcons trounced the Bengaluru Lions 6-1 in their second Group B league tie at the Karnataka Badminton Association Hall.

The Maland Falcons rode their victory in the trump match declared by their opponents and a win in the Super Match to notch up their maiden win.

Tanya Hemanth opened the account for the Panthers with a win over Rashmi Ganesh. The World No. 94 outclassed Rashmi Ganesh 15-5, 15-3 without breaking much of a sweat.

The duo of BM Rahul and Chiranjeev Reddy made it 2-0 with an upset win over Prakash Raj and Suhas V. Rohith Mariswamy then garnered two crucial points from his trump match against Rudra Shahi.

The 18-year-old Tanya then teamed up with Kiran Kumar to win the mixed doubles and seal victory. She displayed her versatality by doing well in the mixed doubles, too.

Mysore Panthers beat KGF Wolves 5-4

Earlier in the day, the Mysore Panthers notched up a narrow 5-4 victory over KGF Wolves.

The Panthers sealed victory in the penultimate match after they had won all four matches, including the trump match, and were leading 5-0.

Wolves, who chose the Super Match as their trump match, won 28-26 after a hard battle to narrow the margin of defeat to a single point.

It was a face-saving victory for the Wolves in the Super Match, which fetched them four points and helped them move to joint-second place on the leaderboard.

GPBL Results

Malnad Falcons bt Bengaluru Lions 6-1

Women’s singles

Tanya Hemanth bt Rashmi Ganesh 15-5, 15-3.

Men’s doubles

BM Rahul/Chiranjeevi Reddy bt Prakash Raj/Suhas V 13-15, 15-10, 15-13.

Men’s singles

Rohith Mariswamy (Trump) bt Rudra Shahi 15-13, 10-15, 15-9.

Mixed doubles

Kiran Kumar G/Tanya Hemanth bt Hemanth M Gowda/Gloria Vinayakumar 15-8, 7-15, 15-10.

SM: BM Rahul/Kiran Kumar/Rohith Mariswamy lost to Hemanth M Gowda/Prakash Raj/Suhas V 26-28.

Player of the Tie

Tanya Hemanth.

Mysore Panthers bt KGF Wolves 5-4

Women’s singles

Drithi Yateesh bt Janani Ananthkumar 15-14, 15-9.

Men’s doubles

Mithun Manjunath/Pruthvi K Roy bt Bhargav S/Nithin HV (Trump) 11-15, 15-13, 15-13.

Men’s singles

Shamanth Rao Kidiyoor lost to Aditya Diwakar 15-10, 7-15, 14-15.

Mixed doubles

Aravind Kongara/Drithi Yateesh lost to Sanjeeth S/Janani Ananthkumar 15-6, 14-15, 8-15.

SM: Mithun Manjunath/Pruthvi Roy/Shamanth R Kidiyoor bt Bhargav S/Nithin HV/Sanjeeth S 21-16.

Player of the Tie

Mithun Manjunath

Tuesday’s matches (Live on Eurosport)

Kodagu Tigers vs Mandya Bulls (3 pm).

Bandipur Tuskers vs Mangalore Sharks (6 pm).