PBL : Delhi emerge champions in close final to lift PBL crown

Vladimir Ivanov and Kamilla Juhl of Mumbai gave the team a winning start with a straight-set victory over Akshay Dewalkar and Gabrielle Adcock.

Tommy Sugiarto started the match on an aggressive note contrary to his regular defensive style of play. May be it was the great run he is having at the event, may be it was the occasion. And he was off to a flying start as he reached 8-5 with some good net play on the way. Prannoy took his time to get into the groove but did it well. He came up with two thundering smashes at 8-5 and 9-6 to announce his intent.

Prannoy pressed on and drew par at 9-9 with some delightful play - he set up Sugiarto with a drive to his backhand, then feinted and sent the shuttle back to the same spot and finished with a smack right next to a stranded Sugiarto. Once Prannoy started getting his smashes going, it was Sugiarto on the back foot going into a defensive shell. But it did not help much as Prannoy equalized again at 11-11 and raced to 13-11. He reached set point with a delightful cross court drop and won the set at 15-13.

Sugiarto came back strongly with an aggressive intent and notched up a 3-0 lead. Sugiarto displayed excellent tactical nous setting up Prannoy into his backhand backcourt with airy lobs, forcing him into reckless smashing. And it worked very well as Prannoy hit the net over and over and Sugiarto went into a 6-2 and 9-3 lead. The World No. 11 did not step off the pedal as he finished it 15-9.

Interestingly, this was the second time Sugiarto has been forced into a three-setter in the event, the previous time managed only by Lee Chong Wei. Sugiarto's defensive acumen came to the fore in the third set as he parried attack after attack from Prannoy to reach the break 8-3. As errors came plenty from Prannoy's racquet, Sugiarto made none of his own and moved into the forecourt to finish off proceedings with a 14-6 lead. Prannoy saved three match points, but the inevitable happened characteristically off a Prannoy unforced error as Delhi drew par at 1-1.

Midway, the viewers were left in a bit of confusion as to whether it was a Bollywood set or a professional league as Abhishek Bachhan and Akshay Kumar took to court alongside Sindhu and Jwala Gutta. Also adding to the confusion was Abhishek wearing a Pro-Kabaddi jersey promoting the next glitzy league even before the curtains were down on the current one. Confusions aside, it definitely was some real “bad”minton.

With the scores level, Koo Kien and Tan Heong of Delhi won the men's doubles by a hair's breadth to put the league leaders in the driving seat. The match was decided on the final point of the final set as Delhi won in sudden death to go up 2-1.

It was Mumbai's trump match next as they placed it on Saina's victor from day before Han Li. P C Thulasi, however, almost put a spanner in Mumbai's plans by winning the first set against Han Li in the fourth match. However, Li came back strongly to win the next two sets 15-8, 15-8 and ensured Mumbai took the lead at 3-2 the final went down to the wire.

Delhi had reserved their trump until the end for Rajiv Ouseph who held a 3-0 win record against Mumbai's RMV Gurusaidutt going into the match. Ouseph had also won the last encounter between the two in the league phase, and Delhi seemed all set to take the crown very soon.

Gurusaidutt, however, was not ready to go down easily as he ensured the first set was a close affair until late as both players went in lockstep until 11-11. Rajiv's tactical play made the difference as he set up Gurusaidutt with a drop from the backcourt before advancing to finish it off with a smash. He did it again to go 13-11 and closed out the set without losing another point at 15-11.

Gurusaidutt's fighting spirit again came through as he made a futile but acrobatic dive to save a point at 3-2, that earned a well-deserved round of applause from the crowd. However, his fightback was equally futile as he lost to a technically superior Ouseph in the end.

Delhi, who were the league leaders, proved to be the best side in the tournament eventually. Tommy Sugiarto, who won all his matches incluing his first-ever against Lee Chong Wei and Rajiv Ouseph, who lost just one of his six encounters proved to be the difference. Equally important was the team's shrewd decision to airlift both players of the Malaysian national doubles team of Koo Kien and Tan Heong instead of stringing up a new combination at the event.

Scores:

Delhi Acers vs Mumbai Rockets 4-3

Akshay Dewalkar/ Gabrielle Adcock vs Vladimir Ivanov/ Kamilla Juhl 6-15, 12-15

Tommy Sugiarto vs H S Prannoy 13-15, 15-9, 15-9

Koo Kien/ Tan Heong vs Mathias Boe/ Vladimir Ivanov 14-15, 15-10, 15,14

P C Thulasi vs Han Li* 15-12, 8-15, 8-15

Rajiv Ouseph* vs RMV Gurusaidutt 15-11, 15-6