Home side Bengaluru Raptors sealed a semifinal berth with a victory over Chennai Smashers in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Thursday. Smashers, on the other hand, crashed out of the tournament.
The tie began with a victory for Chennai, as the men’s doubles pair of Chris Adcock and Chin Chung upset the two-time World Championship gold medal-winning duo of Mohammed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 14-15, 15-9, 15-11.
Ploy fails
Chennai took a big gamble in nominating P. Kashyap as the trump player against the in-form Sai Praneeth. The move did not pay off, as Kashyap fell in straight games.
Praneeth notched up his fifth win on the trot, electrifying the crowd with a few sublime smashes and quicksilver net play. Kashyap, who has featured in only three of Chennai’s six ties, ended his PBL campaign with a third loss.
Bengaluru’s marquee player K. Srikanth, the World No.8, cruised past Feng Chong 15-10, 15-10 for his sixth win in as many appearances.
In women’s singles, underdog Vu Thi put up a tremendous fight against Chennai’s World No.11 Hyun Sung, but the latter managed to eke out a 15-10, 14-15, 15-10 victory.
The result: Bengaluru Raptors bt Chennai Smashers (Mohammed Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan lost to Chris Adcock & Chin Chung 15-14, 9-15, 11-15; Sai Praneeth bt P. Kashyap (T) 15-11, 15-12; K. Srikanth (T) bt Feng Chong 15-10, 15-10; Vu Thi lost to Hyun Sung 10-15, 15-14, 10-15) .
