Hunters closer to the top spot in PBL

Hyderabad Hunters surged to an early 3-0 lead against Bengaluru Blasters in the battle for top spot in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League here tonight.
It was no 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 Rankireddy and Pia Zebadiah Bernadet started off well against the Bengaluru duo of Manu Attiri and Sikki Reddy by winning the first game 15-6. But the Reddys fought back to level the scores 14-15.
In the decider, the Hyderabad duo took charge, supported by a vociferous crowd, and won 15-9 to help Hyderabad gain their first point.

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

Carolina Marin 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 semifinals but their last league match will decide who will finish as the league leaders.

The semifinals will begin from Friday.