Delhi rout Hyderabad in PBL

New Delhi Dec 31 (IANS) Delhi Dashers blanked Hyderabad Hunters 5-0 in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) contest at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Sunday.

Delhi began the tie with a bang as their Russian men s doubles pair of Ivan Sozonov and Vladimir Ivanov breezed past Indonesia-South Korean combination of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong 15-9 15-11.

Delhi s Vincent Wong Wing Ki defeated Lee Hyun Il 13-15 15-11 15-4 in Hyderabad s Trump Match to add one more point for the hosts. More importantly the defeat in the men s singles contest left Hyderabad s tally into the negative (-1).

Down in the dumps Hyderabad needed reigning Olympic women s singles champion Carolina Marin to deliver. And the two-time world champions lived up to her reputation getting the better of Sung ji Hyun 15-10 15-12. Despite the loss Hyderabad trailed 0-2 in the tie.

In the second men s singles match Tian Houwei playing Delhi s aTrump Match defeated B. Sai Praneeth 15-14 14-15 15-10 to give the hosts an unassailable 4-0 lead sealing the tie.

In the final match Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov went past Pia Zebadiah and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 15-11 15-12 to make it 5-0. The win ensured that they end their home leg in an emphatic fashion.

--IANS
pur/vd