Saina sizzles for Hotshots
24 Aug 2013 5:16 AM IST
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal shepherded the Hyderabad Hotshots to a comfortable 3-2 victory over Mumbai Masters in the inaugural Indian Badminton League at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi on Thursday.
Despite a thrilling victory by world number one Lee Chong Wei of Mumbai Masters in the opening match, the Hotshots bounced back with Saina winning her women’s singles, followed by triumph of men’s doubles combo of V Shem Goh and W L Khim and later men’s singles player Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk emerged victorious to seal the tie in Hyderabad’s favour.
Having registered three victories from four outings, the Hotshots are at the top of the table with 15 points.Two-time silver medallist at the Olympics, Lee opened the account for Mumbai Masters with a thrilling 21-19, 11-21, 11-5 win over Ajay Jayaram of Hyderabad in the first men’s singles that lasted 47 minutes. However, world number four Saina Nehwal thrashed P C Thulasi 21-7, 21-10 in a 28-minute women’s singles match to bring Hyderabad’s campaign back on track here.
Hyderabad’s Goh and Khim then took the court against B S Reddy and Manu Attri of Mumbai in the men’s doubles match and the duo rallied from a game down to give the Hotshots a 2-1 lead with a 11-21, 21-16, 11-9 victory. At this juncture, the onus was on Marc Zweibler of Germany to bring Mumbai back into the contest, but the world number 12 was stunned 21-19, 17-21, 11-6 by Tanongsak of Thailand, ranked 19th, to give Hyderabad an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Mumbai, however, managed to reduce the margin of defeat with Vladimir Ivanov and Sikki Reddy beating Tarun Kona and Padyna Gadre of Hyderabad 21-18, 21-19 in the mixed doubles match.
Despite a thrilling victory by world number one Lee Chong Wei of Mumbai Masters in the opening match, the Hotshots bounced back with Saina winning her women’s singles, followed by triumph of men’s doubles combo of V Shem Goh and W L Khim and later men’s singles player Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk emerged victorious to seal the tie in Hyderabad’s favour.
Having registered three victories from four outings, the Hotshots are at the top of the table with 15 points.Two-time silver medallist at the Olympics, Lee opened the account for Mumbai Masters with a thrilling 21-19, 11-21, 11-5 win over Ajay Jayaram of Hyderabad in the first men’s singles that lasted 47 minutes. However, world number four Saina Nehwal thrashed P C Thulasi 21-7, 21-10 in a 28-minute women’s singles match to bring Hyderabad’s campaign back on track here.
Hyderabad’s Goh and Khim then took the court against B S Reddy and Manu Attri of Mumbai in the men’s doubles match and the duo rallied from a game down to give the Hotshots a 2-1 lead with a 11-21, 21-16, 11-9 victory. At this juncture, the onus was on Marc Zweibler of Germany to bring Mumbai back into the contest, but the world number 12 was stunned 21-19, 17-21, 11-6 by Tanongsak of Thailand, ranked 19th, to give Hyderabad an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Mumbai, however, managed to reduce the margin of defeat with Vladimir Ivanov and Sikki Reddy beating Tarun Kona and Padyna Gadre of Hyderabad 21-18, 21-19 in the mixed doubles match.
Next Story
