Bangalore: Banga Beats are done and dusted from the inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League as they were defeated by Delhi Smashers by 1-4 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.
Delhi landed on a wrong foot as they lost the opening match that was contested between Sai Praneeth of Delhi Smashers and Parupalli Kashyap of Banga Beats. Kashyap made the most of the errors that were committed by Praneeth and breezed past him by 21-15, 21-11. But thereafter it was Delhi all the way.
Kashyap was looking unruffled from the moment the match started whereas Praneeth was looking bit stressed which gave Kashyap an added advantage that helped him in the later stages of the match. Praneeth tried his best to stay in the match but after 6-7 in the first game, he hardly did anything to keep up against the like of Kashyap and eventually lost the match without even putting up a fight.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles event, Carolina Marin and Nichaon Jindapon gave an action packed thriller which was all about stretching to the limits. They pulled off some really tough points with their brilliant athleticism but as the time passed by Nichaon started to find her hold on the match.
The match was getting much more intense than expected, as both of them were wearing out with the longer rallies that they played and also pulled out some very difficult retrieves. The world no. 16 sealed the match with an easy smash an with that the Thai got Smashers back into the hunt of claiming this tie.
Delhi Smashers were seeking a lead in this tie and the pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng did exactly that in their men’s doubles fixture. World no. 4 Malaysian duo showed their class against the newly paired Carston Mogensen and Akshay Dewalker. Their ability to understand the each other's game was something that surprised everyone. They managed to win this match by 21-11, 20-21, 11-7.
H.S.Pranoy did have some kind of difficulty in his clash against the shuttler of Banga Beats, Arvind Bhat. The match went till the third game which Pranoy won. Pranoy did well in the opening game to win it by 21-18 but the fierce competition from Arvind carried on in the second game where he managed to win it by 21-7. But in the final game he just ran out of steam and lost the game by 8-11.
Later, Jwala Gutta and V Diju defeated Carsten Mogensen and Carolina Marin of Banga Beats 21-16-15-21 11-9 in the mixed doubles to help Delhi Samshers win 4-1
The Banga Beats will end its campaign on Tuesday against a strong Hyderabad Hotshots unit. Even if the team scores a victory there, their chances of making to the semi-finals are very slim.
The results:
Krrish Delhi Smashers bt Banga Beats 4-1 (Sai Praneeth lost to P. Kashyap 15-21, 11-21; Nichaon Jindapon bt Carolina Marin 17-21, 21-15, 11-9; Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng bt Carston Mogensen and Akshay Dewalker 21-11, 20-21, 11-7; H.S. Pranoy bt Arvind Bhat 21-18, 7-21,11-8; Jwala Gutta and V Diju bt Carsten Mogensen and Carolina Marin 21-16-15-21 11-9)
