Sai Praneeth claims thrilling win as Bengaluru Raptors close in on semis

Bengaluru Raptors overturned Mumbai Rockets 5-0 in their penultimate league stage game of the Premier Badminton League as their star performers Tai Tzu Ying, Sai Praneeth and Brice Leverdez claimed big wins.

The advantage in the trump matches have put the Raptors in pole position to make it to the semi-finals, as they currently sit fourth on the table, with a game to go against Awadhe Warriors.

In the other tie of the day, North Eastern Warriors narrowly defeated Chennai Superstarz 4-3 in the top of the table clash.

Tai Tzu continues unbeaten run

Chinese-Taipei star Tai Tzu Ying continued her unbeaten run in PBL 2020, by beating Mumbai Rockets’ Shreyanshi Pardeshi in straight games. Tai Tzu Ying made light work of her opponent with a combination of some of her trademark deceptive shots to win 15-8, 15-12.

The Chinese-Taipei International helped got Bengaluru Raptors back into the contest in their PBL 2020 group match levelling the tie 1-1. Prior to Tai Tzu Ying’s triumph, Bengaluru Raptors had lost a keenly contested men's doubles game as the duo of Adrian George and Rian Agung Saputro lost out to South Korea’s Kim Gi-Jung and Kim Sa-Rang.

Sai Praneeth wins thriller

Two of India’s most seasoned badminton players, Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap played out one of the best matches of the PBL 2020 season. The match, which lasted for nearly an hour, was filled with spectacular smashes and drop shots and went into a deciding point in all three games.

World Championships bronze medallist Sai Praneeth ultimately triumphed in the clash, winning 15-14, 14-15, 15-14 to give his team double points as this was Bengaluru Raptors’ trump match.

Mumbai Rockets’ misery was compounded further as they lost their trump match following that three-game thriller, with Shreyansh Jaiswal losing out 12-15, 15-10, 10-15 to French shuttler Brice Leverdez. The Raptors finished strongly as well, winning the mixed doubles match in straight games.

Top of the table clash

In the afternoon fixture, the top-two placed sides of PBL 2020 played out an engaging tie. With both the teams already through to the semi-finals, Chennai Superstarz rested the likes of Lakshya Sen and Jessica Pugh. The move ended up costing them as Superstarz lost the tie 4-3 to North Eastern Warriors.

Young shuttler Ashmita Chaliha and the men’s doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Dhruv Kapila were the top performers of the tie, winning their matches in straight games.

Premier Badminton League points table

North Eastern Warriors find themselves on top of the Premier Badminton League points table with 22 points while Chennai Superstarz are also level on points but are trailing in the number of matches lost. The Bengaluru Raptors find themselves in fourth place with 17 points, three ahead of Awadhe Warriors who they face in their next tie in PBL 2020.