MATCH PREDICTION: Chennai to get 3rd win in a row over struggling Hyderabad Hunters

CHENNAI SMASHERS will look to continue their winning run as they face Hyderabad Hunters at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad today. The Hunters who are placed at the bottom of the table will look to get back to their winning ways. Last night against Awadhe, the Hunters fought back well to secure those points.

Also the fact that Lee Chong Wei has finally found his rhythm should boost the team's morale. It will an exciting tie to watch so expect some high-voltage performance by both the teams.

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.

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.

HYDERABAD HUNTERS vs CHENNAI SMASHERS

The following shuttlers are likely to play against each other in their respective categories; Men's singles: Kashyap (Hyderabad) against Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Chennai); Men's doubles: Kido/Mogensen (Hyderabad) against Pranaav Jerry Chopra/Chris (Chennai); Women's singles: Supanida (Hyderabad) against PV Sindhu (Chennai); Men's singles: Lee (Hyderabad) against Simon Santoso (Chennai); Mixed doubles: Kido/Gutta (Hyderabad) against Chris/Pia (Chennai).

It remains to be seen which matches each team will nominate as their Trump match.

Though Kashyap started on a winning note he has failed to continue the same. He has now lost two back-to-back matches. Kuncoro holds the edge over the Indian shuttler, leading 3-0 at the international stage. Therefore this match is likely to fall in favour of the Smashers.

Supanida and Sindhu will be meeting for the first time. The 20-year-old's current form should help her win over the Hyderabad shuttler. The Smashers might nominate this as their Trump match.

Chopra/Chris are a great pair and it will be tough outing for both the teams in this category but Kido/Mogensen have more experience and are likely to win this match.

Lee Chong holds the upper hand over Santoso and will give his team those crucial points. The Hunters are likely to choose their mixed doubles contest as the trump match. Gutta/Kido are a strong pair and have found their winning ways but it will not be an easy outing as Chris/Pia would not give it away easy.

The Smashers look strong and are likely to take this match, but it will be a close contest.