IBL 2013 final live: Now it's party time, says Saina

IST 2344 “I was not expecting to win against a strong Awadhe side, they had all the top players. So really happy to play well and now it’s party time,” said Saina. IST 2334 Jayaram wins it. 10-21, 21-17, 11-7. Superb character shown by Ajay Jayaram to come back into the second game and then he took the third game too to clinch the inaugural title for Saina Nehwal’s team. Super stuff. Good match – it lasted 53 minutes. IST 2326 Guru’s not giving in but Jayaram is into his stride too. 4-4. This is could go either way. So close. IST 2320 It’s all even now. Dutt took the first game 21-10 but lost his focus late in the second game. Jayaram trailed through the game but took it 21-17. If Jayaram win, Hyderabad will be the champions. IST 2313 Dutt leads 21-10, 14-10. Jayaram working his way back in, showing more composure. But it is Dutt who holds the trump card now. If he can keep his focus, Jayaram will have a tough time working his way back into the match. IST 2300 Dutt leads 21-10, 7-4. He has continued to impress with his sense of position and tactical play. It has Jayaram feeling uneasy and almost slow. He will not want this match to be stretched it out. Given that fact that he isn’t feeling well, the short match will work to his advantage. IST 2254 Dutt takes the first game 21-10. inspired effort by the man who fell ill just a few hours before the match. Jayaram seemed rather out of it. Awadhe need to win this match to keep the tie alive and the IBL championship out of Hyderabad hands. IST 2250 Dutt leads 14-7 at the second break. He is throwing himself around the court, diving to retrieve smashes and keep points going. He has Jayaram on the defensive and looking a step slow. Even the breaks are going Dutt’s way, as Jayaram opts to leave the shuttle thinking it is going wide but it just drifts in at the last instance. Dutt hammers a smash return to win the final point before the break, then pumps his fist. IST 2245 Dutt may be ill but he is moving well takes a 7-4 lead in to the first break, winning the last point with a smash that leaves Jayaram spread-eagled on the floor. Dutt holds a 2-1 edge in the head-to-head meetings between the pair, but it was Jayaram who won their last meeting. IST 2235 It seems Gurusai Dutt has taken ill, making Ajay Jayaram the favourite in the second men’s singles match. IST 2230 Goh/Lim run away with the final game 11-4. They were just too sharp in the decider, controlling the net and pounding smashes. Mathias Boe surprisingly turned out to be the weak link, as he made error after error. Hotshots win the men’s doubles 21-15, 13-21, 11-4. IST 2225 Except is the Boe/Kido combination that are feeling the pressure in the decider. Boe even nets a serve, as Goh/Lim jump out to a 6-2 lead. IST 2220 The men’s doubles match is knotted at one game apiece after Boe/Kido win the second game 21-13. They seem to be in control now. Too many errors from Goh/Lim. They aren’t as sharp as they were in the first game. IST 2213 Boe/Kido lead 14-9 at the second break. Goh/Lim still trying to keep points short but it is the Awadhe pair that have taken control of the net. The Hotshots pair is also making more unforced errors than they did in the first game in their quest for quick points. IST 2208 It is back to regular scheduled program in the second game. Boe/Kido asserted themselves early and lead 7-4 at the first break. IST 2202 Goh/Lim win the first game 21-14, taking the last five points in a row after Boe/Kido had closed to within two points. A couple of powerful smashes from the Awadhe pair showed why they are considered to be so dangerous, but Goh/Lim dominated at the net and played excellent defense to close out the game. The pressure told when Kido’s service return found the net down game point. IST 2155 Goh/Lim have clearly learned something from their first match against Boe/Kido. They keep the pressure on, shortening the points and leading 14-8 at the second break. IST 2150 This time though, it is Goh/Lim who start out stronger. They take an early 7-2 lead. IST 2145 The men’s doubles is next. Players warming up. Awadhe have the edge here, with the Boe/Kido partnership. Hotshots will counter with Goh/Lim. The Awadhe pair won their previous match in straight games. IST 2135 Saina stays unbeaten in the IBL with a 21-15, 21-7 thrashing over Sindhu. She has won seven of her seven matches. Saina learned from their first match and concentrated much more on attaching Sindhu’s body. By the end of the match, Sindhu was looking frazzled missing shots she would otherwise make. Plenty of work ahead of her before she can claim to be on Saina’s level. IST 2130 The rematch hasn’t turned out to be much of a match. Saina leads 14-6 at the second break, with Sindhu unable to counter Saina’s strategy. She has tried to up the tempo and go for her shots but is making too many mistakes. Saina looks to be in a different class on this evidence. IST 2123 It is more of the same in the second game. Saina continues to target the body and Sindhi continues to have no answer. Saina is controlling the points and the pace of the match. She leads 7-1 at the first break. IST 2115 Saina continues to target her smashes at Sindhu’s body, which the younger player doesn’t know how to counter. At one points, she swipes at the shuttle with her left hand because she is completely out of position. Saina runs away with the first game 21-15. IST 2110 Sindhu closes to within a point at 8-7, winning four of the first five points after the break, but Saina reasserts her authority with some controlled smashing. She goes into the second break leading 14-9. Hard to see Sindhu coming back from here. IST 2105 Saina comes out the stronger of the two. No slow start for her this time as she races out to a 7-3 lead at the first break. Her strategy seems to be to target Sindhu’s body, which is paying dividends so far. Sindhu has also made a couple of unforced errors. IST 2100 Now it is time for the match everyone wants to see - Saina vs Sindhu. The players are on the court and warming up. Sindhu gets a polite cheer from the crowd during introduction; Saina gets a roar. Pretty clear who the crowd favourite is tonight. IST 2050 Advantage Awadhe Warriors as Srikanth wraps up the first match 21-12, 21-20. Tanongsak fought back to lead 19-18 and 20-19 as Srikanth made multiple errors, smashing wildly as his lead narrowed. But facing game point, a delicate net shot caught the net and just tumbled over to level the scores at 20-20. A cross-court smash on match point then gave Srikanth the victory. IST 2045 Tangonsak seems to have gathered himself during the break. Has clawed his way back to make it 15-13. Excellent defense from Tanongsak, who should have lost the same point twice or thrice but it ends with Srikanth on the floor as the shuttle floats down on the opposite side of the court. 16-14 is the score in Srikanth’s favour. IST 2040 Tangonsak making basic errors now and his body language is not good. Turns around in frustration when a net shot doesn’t clear the net and two points later smashes one into the ground on his side of the court. He doesn’t quit though and from 12-3, closes the gap to 13-8 before a snap shot from Srikanth makes it 14-8 at the second break. Srikanth still very much in control. IST 2035 Srikanth jumps out to a 5-0 lead in the second game. He is playing with lots of confidence and going for his shots. He is dictating points and Tanongsak seems to spend most of his time playing defense. Another clean smash winner gives Srikanth a 7-3 lead at the first break. IST 2028 Srikanth came out the break strong, surprising Tanongsak with the quality of his net play and racing away to win the game 21-12, closing it out with a clean smash from the back of the court. Awadhe in the driver’s seat in this first men’s singles. IST 2022 Srikanth jumped out to a 10-5 lead, with some powerful smashes from the of the court and sharp net play. But Tanongsak fought back to close to 11-9 after a couple of errors from Srikanth, but the Warriors player found his range again and went into the second break leading 14-10 IST 2015 Tanongsak took an early 4-2 lead but Srikanth fought back to lead 7-5. He looks sharp in the first game. IST 2010 The left-handed Tanongsak is ranked 19th in the world. Srikanth is ranked 38th. The Indian won the Thai Grand Prix earlier this year and is a rising talent. The pair are warming up now. IST 2000 The two teams are out on court. Introductions taking place now. Saina seems very relaxed, but smile on her face as she takes her seat courtside. IST 1930 Ajay Jayaram will not have his chance at revenge against K Srikanth. It is Tanongsak against Srikanth first up. Jayaram will have to face Gurusai Dutt in the second men’s singles. Srikanth beat Jayaram in the teams’ first meeting, while Tanongsak beat Dutt, so that explains the switch. IST 1910 Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the IBL final - Hyderabad Hotshots vs Awadhe Warriors. This is the final the IBL organisers would have been hoping for. With all due respect to the many stars who have played in this tournament, the marquee match of the league stage was Saina Nehwal vs PV Sindhi - India’s badminton queen against its new princess. Now we have the rematch with the title on the line. [caption id=“attachment_1075807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina Nehwal is the key for Hyderabad Hotshots. PTI[/caption] The teams’ league encounter was a closely fought one, with Hyderabad Hotshots eking out a 3-2 win. Meanwhile Saina has been the star for Hyderabad, winning all six of her matches. If Hotshots are going to win the first ever IBL, she will need to keep her perfect record intact and beat Sindhu a second time. As far as the men are concerned, it’s more or less certain that Hotshots would be fielding their main men’s singles player Thai world no. 19 S Tanongsak, a semifinalist at the All England championships in March, to give them a fast start — just like he did against RMV Gurusaidutt of Warriors in three games the last time the two teams met. A lot will also depend on the performance of Hotshots’ second singles player and world no. 24 Ajay Jayaram, who lost to K Srikanth in their earlier encounter. However, he comes at the back of another win against world no 5 Tien Minh Nguyen. With inputs from PTI