IBL 2013: Kashyap loses as Mumbai Masters beat Banga Beats 3-2

New Delhi: World number one and icon player Lee Chong Wei missed his first Indian Badminton League rubber but Mumbai Masters still managed to eke out a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Banga Beats in their opening encounter of the inaugural tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here. The Malaysian postponed his travel plans but the delay didn’t matter as world number 41 Vladimir Ivanov of Russia rose to the occasion and notched up a straight-game win over India’s top shuttler Parupalli Kashyap in the opening match late last night. [caption id=“attachment_1038155” align=“aligncenter” width=“380”]  File photo of P Kashyap, who lost his opening singles match. Getty Images[/caption] Kashyap, who rose three places to world number 14 in the BWF ranking, could not quell the challenge from the Russian and lost 18-21 18-21 to concede the early lead to Mumbai Masters in the USD one million event. However, Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei brought Banga Beats back into the contest with a thrilling victory over three-time All England Champion Tine Baun in the women’s singles. Tai Tzu notched up a 21-17 21-18 victory over Denmark’s Tine, ranked 11th. Bangalore then made it 2-1 when their men’s doubles pair of Carston Mogensen and Akshay Dewalkar thrashed Mumbai’s Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Manu Attri 21-13 21-12. The second men’s singles match was another interesting clash between two equal players as Marc Zweibler of Germany and Hu Yun of Hong Kong clashed, cheered on by a vociferous crowd of around 200 spectators even as the match ended at midnight. After an intense battle, which saw fortunes fluctuate on both the sides, it was Marc who was awarded for his resilience as he stunned Hu 17-21 21-17 11-6. In the deciding match, Vladimir Ivanov and N Siki Reddy defeated Akshay Dewalkar and Aparna Balan 21-18 21-19 in the mixed doubles competition to guide Mumbai to a thrilling 3-2 win over Bangalore. With this win, Mumbai bagged four points, while Bangalore gained two. Earlier, in the first men’s singles, Kashyap led the first game 7-2 at the break but Vladimir turned the tables at the second interval, moving to 14-12. Although, Kashyap clawed back at 15-15 and moved to 18-18 with a smash but Vladimir pocketed the remaining points to grab the advantage. In the second game, Kashyap played an aggressive game and opened up a 7-2 lead at the first break but Vladimir made it 8-9 with some attacking strokeplay. Vladimir fought back brilliantly but the Indian was able to keep his nose ahead at 14-10. Kashyap got points with his sharp angled smashes but he also committed few unforced errors as Vladimir kept breathing down his neck even after the break. Kashyap lost a few points at the net and also failed to handle his rival’s smashes to allow him to draw level at 18-18. But a couple of miscued shots left Vladimir just one point away from a stunning victory. The next point too went Vladimir’s way as Kashyap had no answers to his smash. In the second match, the past reputation of Tine Baun didn’t matter as Tai Tzu went about her business with ease and though the Danish shuttler provided a great fight, she didn’t allow her to derail her game. Tai Tzu anticipated well and had better court coverage. Tine involved her rival in long rallies but she could finish off the points. Her strokes went wide and sometimes got buried at the nets as Tai Tzu comeback victories. In the second men’s singles, Hu reached 7-4 at the break but Marc took three point to make it 7-7. Hu and Marc advanced to the next break at 14-12. Hu smashed his smashed and forced Marc to commit unforced errors to lead 17-13. Hu’s inaccurate placement of his returns and smashes allowed Marc to claw back at 17-17. Hu, however, didn’t allow the lead to change hands and after taking three straight points, engaged in fast rallies and finished it with a smash. Marc tried to script redemption in the second game and opened up a three point lead at the break. There was very little to choose between the two as both played an attacking game and waited for the other to commit mistakes. At the second break, Marc managed to hang on to a two-point lead. A deceptive slice and an aggressive parallel game helped Hu to claw back at 14-14. But Marc matched Hu shot for shot to cut down on his errors to move to 19-15 and with Hu hitting far and wide, mark made a hard earned comeback into the game. The decider turned out to be a roller-coaster ride as both Marc and Hu didn’t give an inch to each other as the former moved into the break with a 6-5 lead. The German held his nerves in the long aggressive rallies and eventually sealed the match with a backhand smash. PTI