Pune: PV Sindhu had yet another tough day at Indian Badminton League as she had to fight her way against Julian Schenk, but finally edged past her German rival 21-20, 21-20, which also took her team Awadhe Warriors into the semi-finals of the inaugural event.
Warriors managed to sneak this win off Pune Pistons by 3-2. Though, score line doesn’t give the real picture as Warriors won their first three matches in the row but lost the next two consolation ones. The Lucknow-based team is now leading the points tally by 16 points with more number of wins in comparison to Pune who have equal number of points.
In the opening match of the day, K. Srikanth gave a brilliant start for his team and gave Warriors a crucial lead in this must-win game. He had tough time against Saurabh Verma, who was looking good till the first break. Thereafter, Srikanth came in with some ruthless smashes which created significant amount of pressure on his opponent and Verma started committing more unforced errors that played a pivotal role in giving Srikanth the lead and momentum he was looking for. Ultimately, he won the match by 21-18, 21-16.
Post his win Srikanth said, "I had a very good start and I think this was my kind of style. Shuttle speed was better than in Bangalore which helped me to win."
In the women's singles category, P.V. Sindhu won a crunch match that she played against Juliane Schenk and nailed it in straight games by 21-20, 21-20. It was a very fierce contest between the two as both of them were looking in great touch. Schenk relied more on rallies whereas Sindhu went for her smashes along with her well-timed drop-shots. With this thrilling win, she gave her side a 2-0 lead.
Sindhu was quite happy after this contest and was quoted saying, "I have played against Schenk twice but this is the first time I won and I am feeling really happy. I am also thrilled and touched to see my college friends and teachers who have come here to support me.”
Warriors stunned the Pistons with this smashing win as Mathias Boe and Markis Kido defeated Arun Vishnu and Sanave Thomas in the men's doubles match by 21-15, 21-16 to book their berth for the semi-final spot. The interesting thing about their game was that they never gave their opposition any kind of window to reduce the margin between them and that became a deciding factor in this match.
Pistons didn’t get bogged down after the series of defeat and came back strongly to win the next couple of matches which were in men's singles and mixed doubles tat gave them some relief as they too qualified for the semi-finals.
In the men's singles, Gurusaidutt hardly stood any chance against Tien Minh Nyugen of Pistons as he slammed Dutt in the first set by 21-12 and went onto register the victory in straight games. Tien Minh Nyugen won this second men's singles match by 21-12, 21-18.
Markis Kido couldn’t replicate the magic with her sister Pia Bernadeth that he was able to create earlier in the day in the men’s doubles. Ashwini Ponnappa paired up with Joachim Fischer Nielsen to oust this dazzling pair by 21-16, 21-14.
Results: K. Srikanth (Warriors) beat Saurabh Verma (Pistons) 21-18, 21-16; P.V. Sindhu (Warriors) beat Juliane Schenk (Pistons) 21-20, 21-20; Mathias Boe/Markis Kido (Warriors) beat Arun Vishnu/Sanave Thomas (Pistons) 21-15, 21-16; Tien Minh Nyugen (Pistons) beat R.M.V. Gurusaidutt (Warriors) 21-12, 21-18; Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Ashwini Ponnappa (Pistons) beat Markis Kido/Pia Bernadeth (Warriors) 21-16, 21-14.
