Tanongsak Saemsomboonsuk beat Ajay Jayaram 9-11, 11-7, 11-3 in the last match of the finals to help Chennai Smashers beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3 to be crowned as the champions of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League, powered by Maruti Suzuki here today at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium today.
The win will see Chennai pocket a prize purse of INR 3 cr while Mumbai will go home with INR 1.5 cr.
Ajay who has been one of the prime forces for Mumbai’s great run in the tournament started the high-tension clash on the front foot winning the first game 11-9.
Tanongsak made a comeback in the second game and won it 11-7 to send the match into the decider.
In the final game of the match, Tanongsak began on an attacking note and took a 6-3 lead. He maintained his run after the break and won five straight points to win the match and the championship.
Earlier in the day, in the second match of the day, it was the blockbuster encounter between P V Sindhu of Smashers and Sung Ji Hyun of Rockets. Both players came into the match at the back of a great win in the semis and as expected it was a gripping encounter with the both the giving it all to put their team in the driving seat.
Sindhu started off well and did not allow Hyun to come near the net a strategy that worked well in her favour as she went into the mid-game break with a lead of 6-4.
Sung Ji made a brief surge and erased the deficit before Sindhu broke away to win the game 11-8.
After the change of ends, Hyun took a slender lead 2-1 but she could hold on to it and few unforced errors by the Korean saw Sindhu go 5-2 up. Sung Ji again clawed her way back and it made it 5-5, before a smash from Sindhu saw her go into the break leading 6-5. After the break, Sindhu won points on regulation to reach the match point. Sung JI saved two match points but it was Sindhu who finally prevailed to win the game 11-8.
With 3-0 down in the tie, it was time for men’s doubles action with a must win match for the Mumbai as a loss here would have brought an abrupt end to their campaign. But their pair of Nipithphon Puangpuapech and Lee Yong Dae did not fail to deliver on the expected lines and beat the pair of Mads Pieler Kolding and Chris Adcock 12-10, 11-6 to keep them alive in the tie. The match also added two points to Mumbai’s account as it was their trump match.
In the fourth match, it was the men’s singles match between H.S Prannoy of Rockets and P Kashyap of Smashers. Prannoy who has been unbeaten in the league so far came in with huge expectations to help Mumbai get back into the tie.
Prannoy won the opening game easily 11-4. Kashyap made a strong comeback in the second game to win it 8-11. In the deciding set it was a close battle and it could have gone either way but Prannoy held on to his nerve to win the game 11-8 and equalize the score 3-3 in favour of Rockets.
Chennai Smashers got off to a flying start in the finals as their mixed doubles pair of Gabrielle Adcock/Chris Adcock won their trump match against Nipitphon Puangpuapech/Nadiedza Zeiba at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here today.
The win saw the Chennai side grab an early 2-0 lead over Mumbai.
The match started on a pulsating note with both the teams looking pumped and engaged in a fierce battle to assert early dominance.
It was a clash of equals and it was a neck to neck duel with both the teams giving good account for themselves in the initial moments of the match. It was the Adcock couple who finally managed to seize the momentum and went into the mid-game game leading 6-5. After the break, they kept on the good run and finally won the game 11-9.
In the second game, the duo of Zeiba and Nipitphon started on the aggressive note and were leading 6-4 at the interval. But Gabrielle and Chris bounced back in style and took seven straight points in no time to seal the game and the match 11-6 to earn two points for their team.
Full Results –
1) Mixed Doubles – Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock beat Nipithphin Puangpuapech – 11-9, 11-6
2) Women’s Singles – PV Sindhu beat Sung Ji Hyun – 11-8,11-8
3) Men’s Doubles – Lee Yong Dae/Nipithphon Puangpuapech beat Mads Pieler Kolding/Chris Adcock -12=10, 11-6
4) Men’s Singles – H.S Prannoy beat P Kashyap – 11-4, 8-11, 11-8
5) Men’s Single – Tanongsak Saemsomboonsuk beat Ajay Jayaram – 9-11, 11-7, 11-3
PBL Facts:
Teams: 6
Cities: Delhi, Mumbai,Bangalore,Lucknow,Hyderabad,Chennai
Venues: Delhi, Mumbai,Bangalore,Lucknow,Hyderabad
Dates: January 1-14 ’2017
Broadcast Partner: Star sports – HD 1 & 3 and SS1 & 3
Ticketing Partner: Book My Show
Format: Best of 3 sets with 11 point sets
No of matches in each Tie: 5
Prize money: 6 cr – winner – 3cr, runner up -1.5cr, 3rd and 4th place finish – 75 lakhs each.