IBL: Sindhu leads Awadhe Warriors to 3-2 victory over Mumbai Masters

Bangalore: A week after Tine Baun said that PV Sindhu is still going through a learning curve, the Indian beat the Danish great in straight games in an Indian Badminton League (IBL) match at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here Saturday. Sindhu, the Awadhe Warriors icon player, led her team to a much needed 3-2 victory over the Mumbai Masters. In the process, the Lucknow-based team bagged four points and are fourth in the team standings with 12. [caption id=“attachment_1059265” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PV Sindh. AFP[/caption] The Masters, on the other hand, are tied-first with Hyderabad Hotshots with 15 points. In the opening men’s singles match, Masters’ Vladimir Ivanov, who has had an outstanding IBL so far, again came out on top beating World No.20 R.M.V. Gurusaidutt in a tough encounter. Guru managed to save a matchpoint and pushed the rubber into the decider but the Russian eventually won 21-18, 20-21, 11-9. In women’s singles action, a very aggressive Sindhu led from the start and was 7-4 ahead at the first break of the first game. The Hyderabadi completely outplayed her 34-year-old opponent and was 14-9 ahead at the second break. A couple of wrong line decisions by Tine led her to lose the first game 12-21. However, the three-time All England Open champion came back strongly in the second game matching shot-for-shot against her 16 years younger opponent. Ahead 17-16, the 18-year-old Sindhu gave away the lead to a forceful Tine, who went on to clinch the game 21-19 and push the match into the decider. Both the World Championships medallists fought brilliantly in the third game but an extremely destructive Sindhu kept attacking and took the game away from the Dane, winning 11-8 in the third game. The scoreline between the two sides was tied at 1-1. The Indian was much more aggressive than her usual self pumping her fists after winning points and fell flat on the court in joy after she defeated the retired Dane. Sindhu used her jump smashes to good effect and was supreme at the net making Tine run amok on the court. An experienced Markis Kido and Mathias Boe of the Warriors easily overcame Masters’ B. Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri 21-16, 21-14 in the men’s doubles, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. But Mumbai Masters’ icon and World No.1 Lee Chong Wei had other plans. The Malaysian drubbed a spirited Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 20-21, 11-5 but credit must be given to the World No.38 Indian for not just saving a matchpoint against the world’s best but also claiming a game against him. In the deciding rubber, World No.9 brother-sister pairing of Kido and Pia Bernadet then came out to take the match for the Lucknow-based team 21-19, 21-15 against Ivanov and N. Siki Reddy in the final mixed doubles tie. Results: Vladimir Ivanov (Masters) beat R.M.V. Gurusaidutt (Warriors) 21-18, 20-21, 11-9; P.V. Sindhu (Warriors) beat Tine Baun (Masters) 21-12, 19-21, 11-8; Markis Kido/Mathias Boe (Warriors) beat B. Sumeet Reddy/Manu Attri (Masters) 21-16, 21-14; Lee Chong Wei (Masters) beat K. Srikanth (Warriors) 21-15, 20-21, 11-5; Markis Kido/Pia Bernadet (Warriors) beat Vladimir Ivanov/N. Siki Reddy 21-19, 21-15. IANS