The Hyderabad Hunters moved into the semifinals of the Premier Badminton League after recording a 5-2 win against the Delhi Acers at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi. Sameer Verma won the first men’s singles before the mixed doubles pairing of Hoi Wah Chau and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy doubled the Hunters’ lead.
However, in the next match, the tie was all square after Jan O Jorgensen won his trump match against Rajiv Ouseph 11-5 11-7. Next up was Rio gold medalist Carolina Marin, who was also named the trump player for her side, facing off against Thai Nitchaon Jindapol of the Acers.
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The Spaniard won the first set 15-14 in the most dramatic of fashions and closed out the match with a dominating 11-4 scoreline in the second. To add icing on the cake for the Hyderabad side, the Malaysian pair of Boon Heong Tan and Wee Kiong Tan won the last match of the day 11-9 13-11, ending the Acers’ run in the tournament.
Fernando Rivas, the coach of the Hunters, spoke about Marin’s match in the post-match press conference. “Jindapol is a very tricky player and has some great deception in her shots. We were expecting the match to be a really tough one, especially since it was a trump match,” said the Spaniard.
Marin and Hyderabad comes through when needed
This matchup was the last of the league stage and the Hunters needed at least three points from the tie to leapfrog the Bengaluru Blasters in fourth place. On the other hand, the Acers needed to clean sweep all five matches to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals.
Sameer Verma defeated the Acers’ Siril Verma 8-11 11-3 11-2 in the first tie, which meant the side from the capital were theoretically out of the tournament. Marin’s match was a make-or-break match for her side and after a jittery start, she held on to book a spot her side in the semis against the Mumbai Rockets.
Marin was stretched to the limit in the first set, which went to the maximum limit of 14-all. On the deciding point, it looked as if it was the Acers shuttler who had won after the Spaniard’s shot was called out on the baseline by the line judge.
However, the Spaniard reviewed the call and in the most dramatic of fashions, replays showed that the shuttle had landed on the line by a matter of millimetres. In the second set, Marin swept Jindapol aside 11-4, sending her team through to the knockouts as the Hunters claimed an unassailable 4-2 lead.
Mumbai Rockets await
The Hunters will take on the Mumbai Rockets in the semifinals, with the tie ending 2-1 in favour of the latter during the league stage. The other semifinal will feature a blockbuster matchup between PV Sindhu and Sania Nehwal as the Awadhe Warriors face the Chennai Smashers.
Marin showed why she is one of the best in the world, showing steely resolve to outwit her opponent with the tie delicately poised. The semifinal lineup looks to be a mouth-watering prospect and badminton fans will surely be looking forward to the action.
