Ahmedabad: P.V. Sindhu won a nerve-wracking thriller to guide the defending champions Hyderabad Hunters into the semi-finals of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 here on Sunday. With a narrow 4-3 victory over the Ahmedabad Smash Masters, the Hunters have now jumped to the top of the leaderboard with 21 points.
In one of the most exciting matches of the league, Hunters skipper Sindhu edged Gilmour 15-14, 12-15, 15-14 after saving a couple of match points.
The Rio Olympic silver medallist was the Trump for the day for Hyderabad but Gilmour did everything right to deny her the win, except winning the vital last point. Earlier, Ahmedabad captain Viktor Axelsen bounced back from a three-match losing run to inflict the first defeat of the season on Hyderabad’s Mark Caljouw.
In the mixed doubles rubber, the Hunters pair of Bodin Isara and Eom Hye Won beat the Ahmedabad duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Sikki Reddy 15-14, 15-9 before Ahmedabad’s Daren Liew scored a trump win over and Hyderabad’s Rahul Yadav Chittaboina.
The thrilling tie went down to the wire and it was left to Hyderabad’s men’s doubles duo of Isara and Kim Sa Rang to bring home the victory.
They obliged but not before surviving some tense moments in a riveting 15-10, 11-15, 15-14 win over the Lee Chun Hei Reginald and Rankireddy.
