World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen’s hard-fought win over Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk was the lone bright spot as Bengaluru Blasters lost to defending champion Chennai Smashers 3-0 in the Vodafone-Premier Badminton League here on Monday.
Chennai had won the tie 3-(-1) the moment P.V. Sindhu blunted the challenge of Kirsty Gilmour and Sumeeth Reddy and Lee Yang upset Boe Mathias and Kim Sa Rang in the men’s doubles trump match.
Sindhu dispatched Gilmour 15-9, 15-14 in what was pretty much a one-sided women’s match.
Barring the initial promise shown by Gilmour in the first few points of the first game, the World No. 16 from Scotland was quite ordinary. She saved a match point in the second, but Sindhu was clearly the better player.
The 27-year-old Thai, ranked 17 in the world, matched Axelsen in the second game after losing the first.
He was quick, and played effectively from the baseline. However, in the third game, the reigning World champion ran away to a 11-8 lead and it didn’t look back thereafter.
Sumeeth, a two-time Grand Prix doubles champion, was backed by a dazzling display from World No. 7 Yang as Chennai Smashers handed out a 8-15, 15-14, 15-13 defeat to Boe and Rang — the the pair’s first loss in the League. Blasters started literally on a negative note in the opening [trump] match.
After losing the first game, and facing four match points in the second, the Sumeeth-Yang duo fought back tenaciously. The Indian was alert at the net and hard on smashes. In fact, it was he who finished the game with a quick smash.
The third game, too, was close. Trailing 12-13, it was Summeth, ranked 32 in the World, who, with his net play, enabled Chennai to take the lead.
The results: Bengaluru Blasters lost to Chennai Smashers 3-0 [ (T) Boe Mathias & Kim Sa Rang lost to Sumeeth Reddy & Lee Yang 15-8, 14-15, 13-15; Kirsty Gilmour lost to (T) P.V. Sindhu 9-15, 14-15; Viktor Axelsen bt T. Saensomboonsuk 15-11, 6-15, 15-9] .
