Bengaluru: Chennai Smashers, playing their home leg in Bengaluru, convincingly secured a semifinal berth in the Premier Badminton League by defeating the Mumbai Rockets 4-3 at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, on Tuesday.
Olympic star PV Sindhu got the better of Rockets’ Sung Ji Hyun in the fourth match to hand the Smashers victory with a match in hand. In the opening match, the Smashers dropped a point as HS Prannoy brushed aside off Parupalli Kashyap 11-9, 13-11. Rockets continued their rampaging form as Prannoy raced away to a 6-2 lead before winning the first game 11-9.
Kashyap looked to bounce back in the second, taking a comfortable four-point lead at 6-2. Returning from break, Prannoy, who has been in good form fought back to level 7-7, before winning the first match for the Rockets 13-11.
The Chennai outfit took the next two matches. The mixed doubles tie, the Smashers’ trump match, saw Chris Adcock and partner Gabrielle Adcock
comeback from a game down to win 11-9, 11-2, 11-7 against Chirag Shetty and Nadiezda Zieba .
Having picked up two crucial points in the trump match, the Smashers notched up their second men’s singles match as well as Tommy Sugiarto defeated Ajay Jayaram. Sugiarto rallied to win 11-2, 11-5.
With two wins in their pocket, Smashers’ star PV Sindhu walked onto the court and smashed her way past Sung Ji Hyun. The duo went neck-and—neck in the opening game, before Sindhu took the first at 11-8. She then wrapped up the second 12-10.
In the final match, Mumbai’s trump match, the Rockets duo Yong Dae Lee and Nipitphon Puangpuapech collected two points for Mumbai, with an easy 11-3, 11-5 win over Smashers’ Chris Adcock and Mads Peter Kolding.
Results: Chennai Smashers bt Mumbai Rockets 4-3: Parupalli Kashyap lt to HS Prannoy 9-11, 11-13; Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock bt Chirag Shetty/Nadiezda Zieba 9-11, 11-2, 11-7; Tommy Sugiarto bt Ajay Jayaram 8-11, 11-2, 11-5; PV Sindhu bt Sung Ji Hyun 11-8, 12-10; Chris Adcock/Mads Peter Kolding lt to Yong Dae Lee/Nipitphon Puangpuapech 3-11, 5-11.
