India's badminton queen Saina Nehwal stamped her authority with a dominating win over P V Sindhu as Hyderabad Hotshots notched up a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Awadhe Warriors in the inaugural Indian badminton League, here today.
Hyderabad allowed Warriors to lock the tie 2-2 after taking a 2-0 lead but Pradyna Gadre and Shem Goh V sealed the contest for Hyderabad by winning the deciding mixed doubles.
Coming into the make-or-break match, Pradyna Gadre and Shem Goh V recorded a 21-9 19-21 11-8 win over Markis Kido of Indonesia and Thailand's Sapsiree Taerattanachal.
Touted as the biggest match of the day, the women's singles clash between Saina and Sindhu turned out to a one-sided affair as the London Olympics bronze medallist registered a 21-19 21-8 win over Sindhu, who looked a pale shadow of her fighting self which has earned her the title of a giant slayer.
Saina has not won a single title this year and also failed to win a medal at world championship after having a troubled stomach but she tamed her fast rising compatriot after some initial tough moments.
She recovered from a slow start to dominate the proceedings against Sindhu, who broke into the world top 10 in the latest BWF ranking today.
Sindhu dominated the proceedings early on as she used her deceptive drops and angled slice to bamboozle Saina.
Sindhu enjoyed a healthy lead in the first two breaks. The young Hyderabadi was leading 7-3 in the first interval and then kept a 14-10 lead in the second break.
But Saina, who was depending more on her baseline down the line smashes till now, changed gears and clawed back with some immaculate body smashes and then marched ahead 17-15.
Sindhu kept her cool and grabbed two quick points to make it 17-17 but she lost a point at the net to hand over the lead to Saina again.
Egged on by the vociferous nearly-packed stadium crowd, the 23-year-old Commonwealth Games champion moved to a two-game point lead and although she lost a game point, she sealed it with a smash to pocket the opening game.
