In the 2nd semi-final of the Premier Badminton League, the league debutants Ahmedabad Smash Masters will take on Bengaluru Blasters for a place in the final of the 2018 edition,
The team that emerges victorious in this encounter will take on a red-hot Hyderabad Hunters team that beat Delhi Dashers in the other semi-final on Friday.
The Smash Masters boasts of two top-class singles players in the form of HS Prannoy and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying. While Prannoy will square it off against World No 1 Viktor Axelsen, the women's singles match will be between Tai Tzu and young Kirsty Gilmour.
The semi-final will kick off with the first men's singles match between Smash Masters' Sourabh Verma facing Blasters' Chong Wei Fang.
The Trump card matches of the day will be the men's doubles match followed by the women's singles match between Tai Tzu and Gilmour.
Meanwhile on Friday, former World Champion Carolina Marin came back from a game down to steer Hyderabad Hunters into the final of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.
Marin, cheered on by a vociferous home crowd, overcame a fighting Sun Ji Hun 13-15, 15-10, 15-9 to dash the hopes of Delhi Dashers in a gripping semi-final. She picked up two points for her win as her team's Trump player.
Earlier, local hero B Sai Praneeth set up the victory by beating the Dashers' Trump player Tian Houwei. The Hyderabadi was on song, rattling the Chinese World No 22 with a flurry of down the line smashes.
He raced away to a 15-9, 15-8 victory to get the crowds on their feet. The Hunters shot into a 1-0 lead as the Dashers lost the point that they had won while also yielding a point.
The Hunters began on the wrong foot, with the Hyderabad duo of Pia Zebadiah Bernadet and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy losing the opening clash.
They lost to Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov 15-13, 10-15, 10-15 as the crowd fell silent.
Ashiwni and the tall Russian lost the first game but cam back strongly in the next two. India's doubles specialist Ashwini was in her elements as she ensured Delhi's comeback with her decisive returns.
They took charge soon to wrap up the next two games 15-10, 15-10.
The clash between Marin and Sung Ji was a thriller, with both players showcasing a range of shots while also defending well.
Marin suffered a setback in the opening game as Sung Ji toyed around with her, mixing her drop shots with perfection. It was still a close match, with Marin losing 13-15.
The second game was tighter and gave the fans a lot to cheer about as Marin lifted her game. She was rolling hard and retrieved virtually every shot to frustrate the Korean.
Midway through the game, she took charge with a series of points to deflate Sung Ji 15-10. Thereafter, it was Marin all the way.
She didn't give the visibly tiring Sung Ji any opportunity and forced her into errors to capture the third game as well as the match.
With inputs from IANS
Published Date: Jan 13, 2018 18:54 PM | Updated Date: Jan 13, 2018 19:31 PM
Highlights
19:31 (IST)
5-5! Quick anticipation from Sourabh Verma to equal the scores in the decider. Verma has been producing some impressive shots.The Indian needs to curb the unforced errors and letting Chong Wei earn easy points
19:28 (IST)
19:26 (IST)
Chong takes the second game to force the match into a decider. Neck-and-neck stuff from both the shuttlers after the break of second game. Chong made a few mistakes from the forecourt but recovered well after a disappointing opening game.
19:26 (IST)
19:23 (IST)
14-14! The 28-shot rally sees Sourabh Verma win the point and see a roller-coaster of a second game reach an anti-climax
19:21 (IST)
Some unforced errors by the Indian there. Notably, Chong is playing only from the mid-court and hasn't moved much on the sidelines.
19:18 (IST)
11-6! Chong Wei seems to have shifted gears and how!! He now has a five-point advantage over the Indian who seems pretty stiff in this must-win game for the Blasters
19:17 (IST)
19:17 (IST)
8-6! It's a tight contest between the two in the second stanza. However, Chong has a slender two-point lead at the break. Blasters' coach Arvind Bhat is having a conversation with the Malaysian now.
19:15 (IST)
5-5! Chong Wei Feng seems to have got his rhythm back as his shots seem to be filled with new-found precision that was clearly missing from him in that opening game where he got completely decimated by Sourabh Verma
19:12 (IST)
19:11 (IST)
Sourabh Verma eases past Chong 15-2 to take a well-deserved lead in the first match of the semi-final 2 tie. This is carnage. Verma's variety of strokes proved to be too much for Chong who looks out of position.
19:09 (IST)
19:07 (IST)
At the mid-game break, its Verma who takes a healthy seven-point lead over Chong. HS Prannoy giving some tips to Verma
19:06 (IST)
10-1! Chong Wei makes yet another unforced error to let Sourabh race away to a 9-point lead.
19:05 (IST)
19:03 (IST)
7-1! Sourabh Verma off to an excellent start for Smash Masters in the 2nd semi-final.
18:58 (IST)
In the first match of the day Ahmedabad Smash Masters' Sourabh Verma takes on Bengaluru Blasters' Chong Wei Fang.
18:58 (IST)
18:55 (IST)
Hello and Welcome to Firstpost's live coverage of the Premier badminton League's second semi-final