Beiwen Zhang, Lee Yang and Mathias Christiansen and Son Wan Ho won their matches in three games each to give Awadhe Warriors a 5-(-1) win over Ahmedabad Smash Masters in the Vodafone PBL season 4 at ‘The Arena by SE TransStadia’ here on Friday.
Beiwen who has played for the country of her birth, China, and Singapore, and has been representing the USA for the last five years, was a clear cut favourite to win the opening Trump match for the Warriors.
But the fiercely determined 25-year-old Scottish competitor, Kirsty Gilmour, seemed bent upon having things her own way and make a strong start for Ahmedabad Smash Masters. But after dropping the opening game, the wily American, Beiwen, staved off the challenge, winning the second and third games.
It was an error-ridden match, with Kirsty showing energy and drive to hit winners in the first game. But eventually Beiwen, ranked 18 notches above the Scottish top player, brought cheer to her team.
After Beiwen had brought an end to Kirsty’s hopes of causing an upset, it was the puny-looking South Korean, Son Wan Ho who stole the thunder with a brilliant win against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. Ranked a rung above his regular Danish opponent, Son dominated the opening game and won it. He was decimated in the second with Axelsen’s smashes winning him the points.
The 30-year-old Son could rarely think of deploying the smash; he tossed and pushed the shuttle deep and took control of the third game and the match. Axelsen mishit a smash on the net to give the South Korean a well-earned win. The two had gone into the match, with the Dane enjoying a superior head to head count at 6-5.
In between the women’s singles and the first men’s singles, the Warriors men’s doubles pair in Lee Yang and Mathias Christiansen downed the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Reddy and K. Nandagopal in a thriller.
The results: (After three matches): Awadhe Warriors 5 bt Ahmedabad Smash Masters -1 (Beiwen Zhang ( T ) bt Kirsty Gilmour 10-15, 15-11, 15-11; Lee Yang & Mathias Christiansen bt Satwiksairaj Reddy & K. Nandagopal 15-12, 10-15, 15-6; Son Wan Ho bt Viktor Axelsen 15-7, 8-15, 15-10; Lee Dong Keun bt ( T ) Sourabh Verma 15-8, 15-12.
