PBL 3: Praneeth, Marin keep Hunters ahead

New Delhi: Hyderabad Hunters surged to a 3-0 lead over Bengaluru Blasters in a battle for top honours in the Premier Badminton League in Hyderabad on Thursday.

It was, however, not easy going for Hyderabad as their mixed doubles pair and men’s singles star B. Sai Praneeth were stretched to three games, before winning their respective matches.

Satwiksairaj Rankir-eddy and Pia Zebadiah Bernadet began well against the Bengaluru duo of Manu Attri and Sikki Reddy by winning the first game 15-6. But Attri and Reddy fought back to level scores. In the decider, the Hyderabad duo took charge and won 15-9 for their first point.

Sai Praneeth faced a tough opponent in Chong Wei Feng, who made the world no. 16 sweat for every point in a 10-15, 15-7, 15-14 scoreline. In the decider, the Malaysian was down for the count at 12-14 but he pulled level to take the game into a tie-breaker. Serving for the match, the world no. 45 smacked a Praneeth return into the net to end his gallant fightback.

Carolina Marin then extended Hyderabad’s domination with a 15-9, 15-7 win against Kirsty Gilmour in the women’s singles.

Both teams, have already qualified for the semi-finals but their last league match will decide who finishes as league leaders.