India's ace shuttler notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over PC Thulashi in women's singles to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Acers at PBL
Awadhe Warrior's Sania Nehwal in action against Delhi Acers' PC Thulasi during a PBL in Lucknow yesterday
Lucknow: World No 2 Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over PC Thulashi in women's singles to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Acers in their Premier Badminton League (PBL) match here yesterday.
Awadhe Warrior's Saina Nehwal in action against Delhi Acers' PC Thulasi during a PBL in Lucknow yesterday. Pic/PTI
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Olympic bronze medallist Saina, B Sai Praneeth and doubles pair of Bodin Issara and Cai Yun won their respective matches to take an unassailable 4-1 lead over Delhi in their second tie, after they had gone down fighting against Mumbai Rockets 2-3 in their last clash.
Star of Awadhe Warriors' last match S Tanongsak started the proceedings as he played the opening men's singles against Delhi Acers' Tommy Sugiarto but the Thai shuttler could not repeat a winning performance as the former World No 3 Indonesian registered a 15-13, 15-11 win to draw the first blood in the five-match tie.
"He was very good. While I won the match in two games but he gave me a tough fight. I had to keep a complete check on his shots as he mixed it very well. I am happy I won and opened the account for my team," Sugiarto said.
Saina, who had skipped the inaugural match on Saturday due to a foot injury, enthralled the audience with a dominating game to take her team to a 2-1 lead after beating PC Thulasi 15-9, 15-10 in the women's singles match, which Awadhe Warriors had selected as the Trump match.
Thulasi struggles
Thulasi didn't have answers to Saina low returns as the Warriors captain went into the break at 8-5 with Thulashi struggling to keep the shuttle on court. In the end, Saina wrapped the first game 15-9.
Cheered on by PBL Brand Ambassador Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur at the stands, Saina produced some spectacular shots which Thulashi failed to negotiate.
Saina lead 6-2 and then hit the net twice but she never lost the tempo and continued to lead 8-5.
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