Bengaluru win maiden PBL title

Bengaluru Raptors beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3 to win their maiden Premier Badminton League title. World No. 18 Anders Antonsen lost narrowly to Bengaluru skipper Kidambi Srikanth 15-7 15-10. Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan beat Mumbai’s Lee Yong Dae and Kim GI Jung 15-13 15-10. World No. 59 Vu Thi Trang had the responsibility of playing the trump match for Bengaluru against Shreyanshi Pardeshi and she lived up to the expectations, notching up a 15-8 15-9 win. Earlier, Mumbai trump Pia Zebadiah and Kim Gi Jung gave a fabulous start to their team by beating Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 15-8 15-14. World No. 12 Sameer Verma bounced back from a poor start to avenge his league stage defeat to Bengaluru’s Sai Praneeth, winning 7-15 15-12 15-3. pti