Rituparna stuns Beiwen Zhang to put Pune 7 Aces ahead against Awadhe Warriors

Rituparna Das stunned World No. 14 Beiwen Zhang in straight games as Pune 7 Aces went 2-0 up against Awadhe Warriors in a crucial match of the fifth Premier Badminton League here on Monday.

Showing admirable composure, Rituparna, a former national champion, surged to a gritty 15-13, 15-12 win over the much-fancied American at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium here.

In her first-ever meeting with the former India Open champion, the 23-year-old Rituparna refused to be intimidated by her higher-accomplished opponent as she put in a performance to remember against the Awadhe Trump.

Rituparna exhibited her full repertoire of shots and rode on her exquisite placement of the shuttle to put Zhang in a spot of bother.

The Indian made the Awadhe ace run to every corner of the court, thus tiring out the American and then held her nerves to pull off the win in front of her roaring Pune 7 Aces team members.

"I just wanted to play it safe and ensure that I made no mistake. Coming into this match after a good performance against Michelle Li, my confidence was high. I am glad I was able to pull it off this time," said Rituparna after her big win.

Having suffered their first loss of the season in Pune's last tie, Commonwealth Games gold medallists Chris and Gabrielle Adcock roared back to form with a strong 15-6, 15-9 win against Awadhe's Christinna Pedersen and Ivan Sozonov.

Earlier, Pune's Hendra Setiawan and Chirag Shetty lost for the first time this season in a gruelling three-game encounter aganst Awadhe's World No. 24 pair of Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol.

Shetty and Setiawan had been on a four-match winning streak so far which was snapped by a gutsy show by the Awadhe pair, who came back to win 6-15, 15-9, 15-12.