MATCH PREDICTION: Close match on cards, but Awadhe will trump Mumbai in the opener

THE RE-CHRISTENED  PREMIER BADMINTON LEAGUE will commence today in Mumbai where the home team Mumbai Rockets will take on Awadhe Warriors in the opening match at the NSCI stadium.

Mumbai will be banking on a balanced team and home support for a win, while the Awadhe Warriors will be depending on the aura of world no.2 Saina Nehwal, along with a strong men's team to start their campaign on a winning note. Both teams have a mix of youth and experience, but Saina's presence should provide the Warriors a definite edge in the women's matches.

The 32-year-old Anup Sridhar will begin his coaching stint in PBL with the Warriors. Just like the youngsters in the team, Sridhar too will be put to the test. When asked what his strategy would be, he said:

"I will try to be a player amongst them and push them to win. There are certain things as players you don't want to hear from your coach and I know that since I've been through it. So mainly I will try and control myself in not saying those things."

He is highly remembered for his historic win against former no. 1 Taufiq Hidayat. Having another shuttler, Sai Praneeth, in the team who has done the same should give him the confidence of delivering for the franchise.

Sridhar will be up against Ram Nayyar, the coach for Mumbai Rockets, who is an NCCP Certified Level 5 badminton coach, which is a coach training programme in Canada. Nayyar has been coaching the Canadian badminton team at major tournaments. Under the guidance of Nayyar, the Rockets seem to be in good hands.

TFG analyses and predicts the winner of the match based on a possible line-up of players, as the teams have to announce their team and Trump match only an hour before the game. Based on the format given by PBL, the second men's singles match will be the last game.

RULES: Each tie comprises of 5 matches -- Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles & Men’s Singles.  Each Match will be played as best-of-three games, with each game being a race to 15 points and a sudden death at 14-14. After each team shares the list of players who will be playing the 5 matches and their choice of Trump match, the order of play will be mutually decided by the technical team of PBL & broadcaster Star India before each tie (from a neutral perspective) to keep the schedule unpredictable.

TRUMP MATCH: Each team strategically selects one of the 5 matches that they play in a Tie as their Trump match. In a Trump match, a victory gives the team a bonus point and a loss gives it a negative point. A team cannot put the same player in the Trump matches proposed by them more than twice in the league stage and once in the knockout stage i.e. if team A places 5 trump matches during the league stage, any player can take part in maximum two of those 5 matches. However, the participation of a player in a Trump match proposed by the opponent will not be counted in this maximum 2 criterion.

For scoring in a Trump match, victory in a normal match gives 1 point, loss carries 0 points. In a Trump match, the team that has called for the Trump gets 2 points for victory and -1 for a loss. However, the other team will play this match as a normal match and will either get 1 or 0 points for win or loss respectively. If both the teams place the Trump on the same match, then for both of them +2 or -1 scoring will apply for win or loss respectively.

MUMBAI ROCKETS vs AWADHE WARRIORS

In the lung opener, the following shuttlers are likely to play against each other in their respective categories: in the first Men's singles, HS Prannoy (Mumbai) will aim to play against Sai Praneeth (Awadhe); Men's doubles will see Vladimir Ivanov/Mathias Boe (Mumbai) against Cai Yun/Bodin Issara; Women's Singles should be between Han Li (Mumbai) and Saina Nehwal (Awadhe); Mixed doubles should see Mathias Boe/Kamilla Juhl (Mumbai) pitted against Hendra Gunawan/Christina Pedersen (Awadhe), while the second Men's singles tie is likely to be between Gurusaidutt (Mumbai) and Tanongsak (Awadhe).

It remains to be seen which matches each team will nominate as their Trump match. Awadhe is likely to nominate Saina's singles match and Mumbai is likely to chose the men's doubles contest as their Trump matches. If this is how it will turn out, then it will go down to the wire. The second men's singles will then be crucial for both the teams.

There are two scenarios likely in the Men's singles. The first one could be -- Prannoy vs Tanongsak & Gurusaidutt vs Sai Praneeth. In both these matches the Warriors' shuttlers are favourites to win. In the second match between the two Indians, though the head-to-head are level at 1-1, Praneeth is likely to edge past Gurusaidutt. Praneeth has had a good year while Gurusaidutt missed out on many tournaments due to injuries. In such a scenario Awadhe could end up winning both the Men's singles matches.

In the other scenario, which is what Mumbai would aim for, Prannoy could end up playing Sai Praneeth, and Gurusaidutt squaring up against Tanongsak. In this case, Prannoy is likely to snatch a victory giving Mumbai a much-needed win from the Men's singles category.

With the Trump matches cancelling out each other, the Mixed Doubles and the two Men's Singles will decide the winner for the night. If both the men's singles match-up goes in the favour of Awadhe then they will romp home, giving them a clear victory. Hoewever, if each team wins one match in the men's singles, then the mixed doubles match will turn out to be the decider. Here the Mathias Boe/Kamilla Juhl (Mumbai) pair might not be good enough for Hendra Gunawan/Christina Pedersen (Awadhe), who should emerge winners.

The multiple scenarios mapped above indicate the Saina-led Warriors charging ahead as winners, though it won't be an easy victory over the home team if one of the men's singles goes in favour of the Mumbai Rockets.