Vodafone PBL: Hyderabad Hunters take 2-0 lead against North East Warriors
Vodafone Premier Badminton League; Hyderabad Hunters take 2-0 lead in their opening PBL match against North East Warriors, Jairam suffers first loss against PBL debutante
Guwahati
Hyderabad Hunters got off to a bright start in their Vodafone Premier Badminton League opener against North East Warriors by taking an early 2-0 lead and netting two points in the five-match duel at the at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
The Hunters men’s doubles pair of Markis Kido/ Yoo Yeon Seong overcame a resolute Kim Gi Jung/ Shin Baek Cheol 15-10, 13-15, 15-13 in a thriller to give them their first point. The South Korean duo put up a gallant display but the experience of Indonesian Kido and Korean Seong stood out in a tense finish.
Lee Hyun Il then caused an upset by defeating Ajay Jayaram 15-13, 11-15, 15-6 in the men’s singles.Jayaram, who held a 3-0 advantage against the Korean in their earlier meetings, appeared to justify it by racing to a 6-0 lead in the first game. But Lee Hyun clawed back to turn the tables on Jayaram 15-13. Although the Indian bounced back in the second and took the contest to the third game, Lee Hyun closed out the match with a dominant display.
With their star player Carolina Marin lined-up to play the women’s singles against Canadian Michelle Li, listed as their Trump match, Hunters are in a strong position to seal the contest.
MATCH PREVIEW FOR TOMORROW
Smashers keen to hunt down Rockets
Delhi Smashers are keen on putting behind the disappointments of the last season and begin the third Vodafone Premier Badminton League on a fresh slate. They run into two-time finalists Mumbai Rockets in their opening match at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium on Christmas Day (Monday). A look at how the teams stack up:
Delhi Dashers vs Mumbai Rockets
Head to head: Played 3, Delhi won 2, Mumbai won 1
Best finish: Delhi winner 2016; Mumbai runners-up 2016, 2017
Key clashes: Women’s singles: Sung Ji Hyun v Beiwen Zhang. Korean Sung Ji is ranked World No6 while USA’s Beiwen, of Chinese origin, is the World No11.
Men’s singles: Tian Houwei v Sameer Verma. The Indian, with a world ranking of 30 will be up against the World No22, who is also the only Chinese player featuring in the league.
The Vodafone Premier Badminton League is held under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India and is organised by Sportzlive, the official licensee partner of the league. It has already acquired the tag of being one of the richest badminton leagues with the teams battling for a total prize money of INR 6 crore.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LEAGUE
- 8 current World Championship medalists
- 9 Olympic Medalists (including three multiple medal winners)
- World No. 1 in both Men’s singles and Women’s singles
- Prize Money: INR 6 Cr
- Duration of tournament: 23 days
- High footfall and stadium attendance Last year gate revenue was close to 1.4 cr.
About Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 3
The Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 3, is the world’s richest prize money badminton tournament offering a prize of INR 6 Cr. The league is conducted bySportzLive, licensee partners of PBL and is organised under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI), led by President Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma. The league kick starts from December 23nd 2017-January 14th 2018 and will see 8 teams; Delhi Dashers, Mumbai Rockets, Hyderabad Hunters, Awadhe Warriors, Chennai Smashers, Bengaluru Blasters, Ahmedabad Smash Masters and North Eastern Warriors battle out in across 5 different locations of India including Guwahati, Delhi, Lucknow, Chennai and Hyderabad.
