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Mumbai: Chennai Smashers made the best use of the "Trump Match" to outclass Mumbai Rockets 4-3 in the third tie of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Sunday.
The tie began with the mixed doubles match where Pia Zebadiah and Chris Adcock of Smashers beat Kamilla Juhl and Vladimir Ivanov of Rockets 15-10, 7-15, 15-11 to take a 1-0 lead.
"It is important to start the League on a winning note and we are delighted to kick start our campaign with a victory. Our opponents made a brilliant come back in the second set but we managed to hold our nerves in the third set and gave our team a very important win. Also the importance of this win is because it was their trump match and we did not allow them to win it," Adcock said after the win.
Next up was the men's singles match between H.S Prannoy of Mumbai and Brice Leverdez of Chennai. World No. 20 Prannoy defeated Leverdez 15-8, 15-11 in a one-sided affair to give his team the first point of the evening.
"I was in a little bit of pressure because I lost yesterday's match against Awadhe Warriors. I was determined to win this one today. This was a good match today as I won it convincingly," Prannoy said after the match.
This was followed by the men's doubles match which was the 'Trump Match' for the Rockets.
Mumbai's Mathias Boe and Vladimir Ivanov got off to a flier winning the first game 15-10. Their opponent Chris Adcock and Pranaav Chopra of Chennai came back sharply to win the second game 15-9 and take the match into the decider.
Boe-Ivanov used their experience to good effect to take the final game 15-13 and most importantly the bonus point (+2) to win the match. With the win, Mumbai got a healthy 3-1 lead.
"After losing our first game of the match we did not fall apart and in this important Trump match, we managed to get two vital points for our team which will consolidate our position in the Tuesday's today. Also it's a nice feeling to get wins for your team. We won the all important team yesterday and today again we stood up to the team's expectations," Boe said after the win.
The penultimate match of the tie saw World No.12 P.V. Sindhu beating Han Li 15-8, 11-15, 15-8 in the women's singles match to make it 3-2.
"Han Li just showed the nerves of steel, though I easily won the first game but she was flawless in the second game. Luckily I managed to win the last game and earned the all important point for our team. Now we hope to win the next game which is our Trump match and end the Tie on a positive note," Sindhu said after the match.
The last match of the day saw Gurusai Dutt of Mumbai facing off against Simon Santoso of Chennai which was a Trump Match for the Smashers.
Santoso used his skills to good effect to win the crucial match 15-9, 15-12 and gather two vital bonus points which helped the side win the tie 4-3.
