Bottom-placed Delhi Acers pulled out all the stops to topple Chennai Smashers 5-2 in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Sunday.
In Jan Jorgensen (World No. 2) and Son Ho Wan (World No. 4), Delhi boasted of two singles players of high calibre. In the first encounter of the day, Jorgensen dropped the first game to Tommy Sugiarto, but staged a comeback to win 10-12, 11-4, 11-6.
In the deciding game, the Dane executed two delicate drop shot winners to set the pace. A short while later, at match point, Jorgensen displayed fantastic reflexes to return three heavy Sugiarto smashes.
In the mixed doubles rubber, Delhi’s Vladimir Ivanov and Jwala Gutta edged out Chris Adcock and P.V. Sindhu 7-11, 11-4, 11-9.
Chennai’s P. Kashyap (World No. 62) was outplayed by Wan 12-10, 11-4. Kashyap held a 10-9 advantage in the first game, but a smash into the net allowed Wan to get his foot in the door. Wan then proceeded to shut out his Indian opponent, and put Delhi 3-0 ahead.
The men’s doubles — Delhi’s trump match — also went its way. The Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov combination made short work of Adcock-Mads Kolding, which sealed the fate of the tie.
Marquee name Sindhu then took the court against Tanvi Lad, in an inconsequential affair. The large crowd at the Koramanagala Indoor Stadium, however, was more than happy to stick around and watch the Olympic silver medallist. Sindhu did not disappoint, gliding and pounding her way to a 11-6, 11-7 victory.
The result: Chennai Smashers lost to Delhi Acers 5-2 [Tommy Sugiarto lost to Jan Jorgensen 12-10, 4-11, 6-11; Chris Adcock & P.V. Sindhu lost to Vladimir Ivanov & G. Jwala 11-7, 4-11, 9-11; P. Kashyap lost to Son Wan Ho 10-12, 4-11; Adcock & Mads Kolding lost to Ivanov & Ivan Sozonov (T) 6-11, 6-11; Sindhu (T) bt Tanvi Lad 11-6, 11-7].
