Rockets give Warriors a jolt
January 5, 2018
Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/rockets-give-warriors-a-jolt/article22370802.ece
Mumbai Rockets, not-so-ideally placed at the bottom of the eight-team heap, sprang to life against host Awadhe Warriors in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League here on Thursday.
Mumbai made it one-sided contest with a vibrant start that stunned the home fans who had assembled in strength, primarily to watch Saina Nehwal in action.
It was left to the World Championship bronze medallist and the former World No. 1 to revive the fortunes of the team, which had gone into the negative after losing the opening mixed doubles match.
The fact that P. Kashyap did not take the court and the inexperienced Harshit Aggarwal took his place against the crafty Sameer Verma saw Awadhe lose further ground.
Awadhe Warriors, of course, with no point to show after three matches, as the negative point was nullified by Saina’s victory, swung the pendulum through K. Srikanth who beat former world No. 1 So Wan Ho in three games, winning the decider 15-4, much to the delight of the fans.
However, it was Mumbai’s day and the Rockets did launch themselves higher on the table with a decisive victory in the trump doubles through Lee Yong Dae and Tan Boon Heong.
The results: Mumbai Rockets bt Awadhe Warriors 4-1 (Gabriela Stoeva & Lee Yong Dae bt (T) Christinna Pedersen & Tang Chun Man 15-10, 14-15, 15-7; Sameer Verma bt Harshit Aggarwal 15-6, 15-14; Beiwen Zhang lost to Saina Nehwal 15-8, 10-15, 13-15; Son Wan Ho lost to K. Srikanth 13-15, 15-13, 4-15; (T) Lee Yong Dae & Tan Boon Heong bt Hendra Setiawan & Or Chin Chung 15-13, 15-12) .
