Bengaluru barge into final

Bengaluru, January 11 

Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth guided Bengaluru Raptors to a win over Awadhe Warriors in the first semifinal of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here today. With the two teams tied 2-2 on completion of the men’s singles and mixed doubles rubbers, it was left to Bengaluru’s pair of Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan to deliver the win, and they duly obliged.

The Bengaluru team will hope to lift the title this season; they had narrowly lost the final to Hyderabad Hunters last year. Srikanth blew away the Awadhe icon player, former world No. 1 Son Wan Ho 15-7 15-10 to log his seventh win in as many matches this season. 

Former world champions Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan had lost their last league match on Thursday but the erstwhile No.1 pair lifted their game under pressure. Showing the nerves of steel, the Bengaluru pair staved off a brilliant fightback from Awadhe’s Yang Lee and Christiansen on golden point. Then they clinched the second game 15-9 to the delight of the home crowd.

Then, Praneeth grabbed a 15-9 15-4 victory against Lee Dong Keun. In top form, Praneeth gave no chance to the Korean . — PTI