HYDERABAD HUNTERS smash down the Awadhe Warriors 6-(1) to go on top of the points table.
It was the start that Hunters wanted as their men's doubles pair Markis Kido/Yeon Seong got the first point on the board beating Ching Chung/Chun Man 14-15, 15-6, 15-11.
The men's singles contest between Lee Hyun Il and Parupalli Kashyap too ended in favour of the Hunters. Kashyap winning the first game 15-9 made the Awadhe confident that he could get them back in the tie. But Lee fought back to win the following two games 15-9, 15-14 to extend the lead by 2-0.
And then all eyes were on Kidambi Srikanth as he was playing the trump for Awadhe and engaged in a tough encounter against Sai Praneeth who looked at his best performance. He held a great advantage against his compatriot from the start. Winning the first game with clear domination 15-10, he continued that brilliance in the second game too.
He took an unassailable lead of 8-0 in the second which put him in a comfortable position while the pressure was lurking on Srikanth. But Srikanth tried his best to crawl back with a fight but it was too late from the World No. 3 as Praneeth won 15-10. The loss put Awadhe in a negative point and it was huge mountain to climb for them from here on as their chances of winning the tie looked slim.
Saina Nehwal was up next against the trump of Hunters, Carolina Marin. And she looked miserable at the hands of the Spaniard as the latter extended the lead to 5 after winning the match in straight games 15-5, 15-7 while Awadhe were still on -1.
The final match saw mixed doubles Christinna Pedersen/Hendra Setiawan against Pia Zebadiah/Satwiksairaj. The Indo-Indonesian pair won the opening game 15-9 as Awadhe duo looked struggling with their form.
It was the same in the second game too as scores once again read 15-9. Hyderabad with 6 points from this tie helped them go up the points table with 14 points from being placed at the bottom ahead of this.