Warriors fightback to pip Pistons

Rising shuttler P V Sindhu and K Srikanth scored impressive singles victories as Awadhe Warriors sailed into the semifinals of the inaugural IBL with a 3-2 win over Pune Pistons late on Monday night. 

Srikanth, who recently won the prestigious Thailand Open, gave Warriors  the lead with a 21-18, 21-16 win over Saurabh Verma in the opening men’s singles. Sindhu then doubled the lead by recording a hard-fought 21-20, 21-20 win over world no. 3 Juliane Schenk of Germany.

The men’s doubels pair of Marcis Kido and Mathias Boe then sealed the tie for Warriors with a tight 21-15, 21-16 win over Arun Vishnu and Sanave Thomas. Having lost the tie after three matches, Pune earned consolation wins in the fourth and fifth rubbers.

Tien Minh Nyugen beat RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21-12, 21-18 in the second men’s singles while the mixed doubles pair of Joachim Fischer and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Markis Kido and Pia Z Bernadet 21-16, 21-14 to end the day for Pune with a win.

Earlier, Sindhu and Schenk were engaged in a battle of attrition but the Hyderabadi-girl pulled off a sensational win in two close games. ‘I have played against Schenk twice but this is the first time I won and am feeling really happy. Also I am thrilled and touched to see my college friends and teachers who have come here to support me,’ said Sindhu after her match.

Schenk made a dominating start but Sindhu won five points on the trot after the first break to take lead for the first time with the scoreboard reading 9-7. The German kept fighting as the two players went into the second break with a 14-12 lead for the Indian. 

The seasoned German campaigner did not allow Sindhu to score easily as her powerful forehands kept the score even. Both fought tooth and nail for every point as the game was evenly poised 20-20. Schenk then missed a backhand to hand the first game to Sindhu. 

In the second game, Schenk gained an early 3-1 lead but was soon trailing 3-5. The German, however, responded strongly with her cross-court smashes to leave Sindhu trailing 6-11. The gap grew to seven points as Schenk extended her lead to 16-9. But Sindhu scripted a remarkable recovery to claw her way back into the game. Trailing 17-19, Sindhu rode on her smashes and better placements to restore parity. At 20-20, it could have been anybody’s game but a smash beyond the reach of Schenk ended the nail-biting contest in favour of Sindhu.