PBL 2016 – Sindhu leads Chennai fightback to win over Mumbai

In the first match, Chris Adcock and Pia Bernadeth of Chennai defeated Vladimir Ivanov and Kamilla Juhl of Mumbai 15-10, 7-15, 15-11 to give the visitors a winning start.

Mumbai pulled back in the second match, a lopsided affair, as H S Prannoy of Mumbai defeated an error-prone Bric Leverdez of Chennai 15-8, 15-11 to make it 1-1.

Wanting to capitalize on the win, Mumbai made the third one their trump match and pitted Vladimir Ivanov again in his fourth match in two days of the tournament, and the Russian did not disappoint. He, along with Mathias Boe, took Mumbai to a tally of 3-1 with a three-setter win against Chris Adcock and Pranaav Chopra.

The much-awaited arrival of two-time World Championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu happened in the fourth match with her facing Han Li of China.

The match started out on even terms as the players reached 6-6. With both players vying for the lead, the thirteenth point proved crucial. Sindhu played a nice smash down Li's backhand which the Chinese incredibly returned with a behind-the-back flick. Unfazed, Sindhu traded shots before setting Li off to the right before sending a winning drive down the left. From there on, Sindhu dictated terms to close out the game at 15-8 amid some raucous cheering from the crowd for the Hyderabad lass.

The second set again went neck-to-neck as Sindhu's unforced errors let the Chinese level things time and again until 7-7. Growing in confidence, Han Li started going for the tough shots and managed to pull ahead to 11-8. Sindhu fought back to level at 11-11, but Han Li again took control and reached game point with a long rally that saw her send Sindhu to all corners of the net before closing it out with a simple drop. Li closed out the game at 15-11.

Sindhu seemed to continue her bad phase into the third game to go down 0-2. But the 20-year old proved her mettle by shrugging off the initial blues quickly. Sindhu made eight straight points with some brilliant net play before Li could manage another point. But Sindhu won back serve right away with a smacking smash right through Li's defence. The Indian gave away a few points but won the match 15-8 with a smash down the line to take Chennai one point closer at 2-3.

With that win, Chennai were back in the fray and went for their trump match pitting Simon Santoso against Mumbai's R.M.V. Gurusaidutt. A win now would let Chennai leapfrog to 4-3, while a loss would mean they lose the face-off 1-4 after having held the trump card back until the end. Santoso reaffirmed their faith though with a straight-set victory over Gurusaidutt to make it 4-3 for the visitors. 

Mumbai would be disappointed to have let the match go after leading 3-1, but it was Chennai that played its cards well with a trump in the end to open their account in PBL 2016.

Mumbai Rockets vs Chennai Smashers 2-4

1) Mixed Doubles: Vladimir Ivanov/ Kamilla Juhl vs Chris Adcock/Pia Bernadeth 10-15, 15-7, 11-15

2) Men's Singles: H S Prannoy vs Brice Leverdez 15-8, 15-11

3) Men's Doubles: Mathias Boe/ Vladimir Ivanov* vs Chris Adcock/ Pranaav Chopra 15-10, 9-15, 15-13

4) Women's Singles: Han Li vs P V Sindhu 8-15, 15-11, 8-15

5) Men's Singles: R.M.V.Gurusaidutt vs Simon Santoso* 9-15, 12-15

(* signifies trump match)