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It was an action-packed day at the G.M.C Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad where the final leg of the PBL Season 5 is being played. A double-header day, the afternoon clash saw the Pune 7 Aces locking horns with the Chennai Superstarz. With both teams enjoying an unbeaten winning streak, it remained to be seen who emerged the better of the two. It wasn't that difficult a dilemma, as the Pune 7 Aces emerged the stronger and halted the winning streak of the Chennai Superstarz.
The first rubber of the day featured the Mixed Doubles encounter with the Pune 7 Aces sending out Chris and Gabby Adcock ahead against the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Jessica Pugh. The husband-wife pair of Chris and Gabby was quick to dominate the Indo-English pair and handed them a defeat, 15-10, 15-12, despite some fierce rallies and marvelous points.
In the second match of the day, Kirsty Gilmour finally showed up for the Chennai Superstarz side to play the Trump Match. Up against Rituparna Das from Pune, it was the much experienced Gilmour who held the upper hand. Although Das did put up a fight in the first game, she could come nowhere close to the brilliant Gilmour attack in the second and lost out, 12-15, 6-15.
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The next match was an interesting one with young talent, Lakshya Sen taking to court for the Chennai side against Loh Kean Yew from Pune. Filled with intense rallies and clever shot-making from either players, the match turned into a nail-biter as it stretched over three games. However much Sen tried, Yew sneaked past him on a couple of points here and there and caused all the difference on the scoreboard. It was Yew who finally won against Sen, 15-13, 10-15, 15-8.
In the penultimate rubber of the day, Chirag Shetty and Hendra Setiawan stepped out on court for the Pune side against the all-Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and B.S Reddy. Yet again, the Pune 7 Aces secured an emphatic victory against the Chennai Superstarz when Shetty clashed with his usual doubles partner, Rankireddy in a much-awaited encounter. It was Shetty's side who had the last laugh as they won in straight games, 15-12, 15-14. This was the Trump Match for the Pune side and they ensured they got the +2 on their board.
In the final men's singles rubber, it was Sathish Kumar who represented the Chennai side against Kazumasa Sakai from the Pune 7 Aces. Sakai did not waste too many points and was quick to get around to business. Kumar did produce a couple of quality points but the day could not be salvaged for the Superstarz as their unbeaten streak was brought to a definite halt as the Aces served out the final victory, 15-10, 15-12. With that, the Pune 7 Aces secured a majestic win over the Superstarz in 5-2 as they are just two points short of toppling the Chennai side from its top position on the rankings table.
