PBL 2017-18: MATCH REPORT -- Sindhu's dual show & Tanongsak's brilliance helped Chennai beat Smash Masters 2-1
CHENNAI SMASHERS defeated Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in their first home match of the season in Chennai.
It was yet another great tie in PBL as both the teams put up an amazing show of badminton. It was a good start for the Smash Masters as their men's doubles Lee Yang/Nandagopal Kidambi won the opening match 15-13, 15-12.
But then two of the best shuttlers were on the court, where crowd favourite PV Sindhu was playing Tai Tzu Ying. And what a match to witness for the fans present in Chennai. The Indian showed her different side today but the world no. 1 had a number of unforced errors to her name that cost her the match.
Sindhu seemed confident with her shots and smashes and knew she had to get her team back in the tie and she didn't disappoint her team or the fans. She won the match in great fashion, beating Tai 15-11, 10-15, 15-12 to get the scores level at 1-1.
Frenchman Brice Leverdez playing his trump next had a good chance to extend his lead and he looked like he would but Indian Sourabh Verma had a surprise in store. The latter won in an another epic three game battle 12-15, 15-14, 15-12. And this put Chennai back to zero points while Smash Masters held a 2-0 lead.
This was followed by another men's singles contest. HS Prannoy was looking to get his 11th straight win against Tanongsak and also playing the trump for his team. His win could seal the tie for his team and help them gain a spot in the semi-finals. It ended up to be yet another cracker of the night and best one. The Thai shuttler brought an end to Prannoy's winning run, engaging in a three game thriller of the season.
The fans in the stadium loved every bit of action both the shuttlers had to display. Tanongsak won the opening game 15-10 but the Indian came back strong to win the second 15-12 to push the match into a decider. And the final game was a mouth-watering encounter.
It saw a neck-to-neck battle that went down to the last point of the game to see a decide a winner and it took 51 shot rally for Tanongsak to win it 15-14. This made the tie all the more interesting as it brought back the score to 1-1.
Sindhu was back in action for the mixed doubles contest partnering Sumeeth Reddy in the absence of Gabby Adcock who will be missing the rest of the season due to an ankle injury. They were up against Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Reginald.
And once again Sindhu displayed her heroics after winning her singles match that got her team back, she did the same along with Sumeeth to win the match in straight games 15-14, 15-13. And in the thriller tie of the season, Chennai won the tie 2-1.
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