PV Sindhu’s straight-games win over Bengaluru Blasters’ Kirsty Gilmour sealed Monday’s tie for Chennai Smashers but the defending champions couldn’t muster enough points to stay in contention for the semifinals.
The Smashers, after their fifth and the final tie, are fifth in the table with 12 points.
Blasters, who had -1 point after losing both the trump matches, won the next three to get two points from the tie that put them atop the points table.
Playing their final home tie in front of a vociferous Chennai crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium, Smashers’ Yang Lee and B Sumeeth Reddy made a superb comeback to upset Mathias Boe and Kim-Sa Ran 2-1. They lost the first game 8-15 but were resilient in the next two to win 15-14 and 15-13. This was Blasters’ trump match, hence were docked a point for losing it.
Sindhu then won Smashers’ trump match 15-9, 15-14 against Kirsty Gilmour to give her team a 3-0 lead.
The Scot threatened to take the contest into a decider but Sindhu sealed it in the second game tie-breaker.
World No 1 Viktor Axelsen began Bengaluru’s fightback by winning a tough singles match against Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, who stretched the Dane to three games. Axelsen, however, upstaged the Thai 11-15, 15-6, 9-15 to open his team’s account.
An upset of world No 24 Brice Leverdez by Subhankar Dey, ranked 63 in the world, faded the home team’s hopes.
To keep the team’s chances alive Sindhu had to win the mixed doubles match with Chris Adcock against Sikki Reddy and Kim Sa Rang. But Reddy and Rang were solid; errors from their racquets were rare. The Sindhu-Adcock duo, however, managed an 8-7 lead in the first game break. A clash of Smashers’ racquets took Kim and Reddy to match point from 13-13 and though they could not conver the first, the Korean smashed Adcock’s next serve to win the opening game.
The teams alternated points till the second game’s break. Thereafter, Blasters pulled away, with Kim and Reddy winning points on the trot with their smashes. Despite the Chennai crowd screaming their support, Sindhu and Adcock went down 11-15 in the second game.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!