Bengaluru Blasters’ chances to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 2, powered by Maruti Suzuki received a huge dent after they crashed to a 3-4 loss to Awadhe Warriors here at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium here today.
Going into the tie, the Blasters needed a huge win over Warriors and it looked their fans were in for a treat after they won the first match to start on a positive note. But Warriors won two consecutive matches to take 2-1 lead halfway into the tie.
With a lead in their favour and the top position on the league table in sight for the Warriors, it was Saina Nehwal who took on Cheung Ngan Yi of Blasters in the women’s singles match. Saina has been in impressive form throughout the league and it was only fitting that Warriors entrusted her with responsibility to play trump match.
Ngan Yi won the opening game of the match 11-9 and it looked like a surprise was around the corner. But Saina showed immense resiliency to get back into the match winning the next two games 11-5, 11-5 to take a lead of 4-1 and seal the tie in Warriors’ favour with a game in hand.
In the final match of the tie, Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong Yoo took on the pair of Markis Kido and Goh V Shem in the men’s doubles match. It was the trump match for the Blasters and their last chance to keep themselves alive in the tournament.
The Warriors pair started off brilliantly and took the opening game 11-6 and it looked like Blasters were in for a real humiliation.
But Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong Yoo made a great comeback in the second game and won it 11-9 to take the match into the third game.
In the third game, the Blasters pair held on to their nerves to win the game 11-9 and take two crucial points from the tie to take their points tally to 11 and move to the fourth position.
Earlier in the day, the home side made a perfect start as Sourabh erma beat Vincent Wong Wing Ki in the opening match to give them a huge boost for the remainder of the tie.
Starting the match, Wing Ki began on an attacking note and was looking as the favourites to win the match. He opened up a considerable lead in the opening game and it looked like he would wrap it up without facing much trouble. With lot at stake, Sourabh slowly got his act together to erase the deficit and win the game 13-11.
With the opening game in his pocket, Sourabh dominated the second game from the onset to eventually run away with the game 11-7.
But Warriors got back at them immediately as Savitree Amitrapai and Bodin Isara were in their dominating best and beat Sung Hyun Ko and SikI Reddy 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 to equalize the score.
In the third match, it was Kidambi Srikanth of Warriors who beat Viktor Axelsen 11-9,11-9 to help his side take a 2-1.
Even though Bengaluru are in the fifth position currently, Hyderabad Hunters are sniffing dangerously under their neck with eight points in fifth position and with a tie in hand. Blasters will be depending heavily on Delhi Acers and will hope they beat Hunters by a comprehensive margin in their next match.