PBL 2016 - PV Sindhu's domination propels Chennai to a comfortable win

PBL 2016 - PV Sindhu's domination propels Chennai to a comfortable win

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PV Sindhu thrashed PC Thulasi 15-5, 15-4 in her trump match, while Chris Adcock got the better of his better half Gabrielle Adcock as Chennai Smashers smashed Delhi Acers 4-3 in match number five of the Premier Badminton League in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The opening men's doubles tie saw both the teams field heavy hitters. Former World No. 1 Malaysian pair of Tan Heong and Koo Kien, who came out of retirement for the Rio Olympics, took on Chennai's pair of Chris Adcock and Pranaav Chopra. Heong holds the record of the fastest smash ever, at 421 km/h, while Pranaav is one of the hardest smashers in PBL currrently.

There was nothing to choose between the two teams in the opening exchanges, but Pranaav and Chris won the important points towards the end, to win the first game 15-12. In the second game, Delhi raced to a 3-0 lead, but the Indo-British pair pulled it back to 8-5 in their favour.

Pranaav and Chris put on a fantastic attacking display, while Heong and Kien defended with aplomb – the game was filled with exciting long rallies, one of which lasted 91 shots. The second game was tied at 14-14, before Chris pulled out a stinging smash to win it for the Chennai-based team.

Delhi fought back in the second tie though, as Ajay Jayaram restored parity with a one-sided 15-6, 15-9 win over Simon Santoso.

No one wins when husband and wife confront each other, but there was one victor today - Chennai. Chris Adcock took on Gabrielle Adcock in the mixed doubles, partnering Pia Zebadiah and Koo Kien respectively, and the husband walked away with the bragging rights, after what was the most thrilling encounter of the match. All the three games went to the deciding point and Chennai's pair sneaked a 14-15, 15-14, 15-14 win.

In the trump match, PV Sindhu grabbed a comfortable win over PC Thulasi to give her team a comfortable 4-1 lead. Sindhu used her reach to create a lot of different angles, and Thulasi was forced into a lot of errors.

In the reverse trump match for Delhi, Tommy Sugiarto brought some respectability to Delhi's score with a 15-4, 15-11 win against Brice Leverdez to make it 3-4 for the team in the end.

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