PBL 2018 | LY Dae and Sameer Verma help Mumbai Rockets beat Delhi Dashers

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Lee Yong Dae displayed a brilliant performance which helped Mumbai Rockets beat Delhi Dashers 4-1 on Monday at Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati. Sameer Verma also won his match against Dashers' Trump player Wing Ki Wong Vincent to give a stronghold to Mumbai.

The Mumbai-based franchise managed to win their men’s doubles, men’s singles, and mixed doubles and on the other hand, Delhi Dasher’s Wing Ki Wong Vincent failed to win their trump game against Verma and lost the chance of earning two points.

The first match of the day played between Dae/Tan Boon Heong and Ivan Sozonov/Vladimir Ivanov in the men’s doubles where Dae and Heong beat Delhi’s duo 14-15, 15-14, 15-10 in the closest men's doubles contest. 

Mumbai's unforced errors helped Delhi close the gap as Ivanov's timely smash and Sozonov's well-directed shots also favored Delhi to win the first game. Mumbai took advantage of opponents’ mistakes and Dae’s nice placement helped the Rockets equalize and forced the game to the decider. In the third game, Dae, who showed great anticipation, coordinated well with Heong and that resulted in a 15-10 win in the decider.

Sameer Verma, who ranked 30th, stunned World No. 15 Vincent 15-10, 15-12 in Delhi's trump match. At one moment in the first game, the score was 11-all then Verma displayed his brilliant court coverage as he mixed his smashes, drop shots, and soft touches to claim the opening game. Later, both players involved in some fascinating rallies where Verma outclassed Vincent and managed to give two points to his team.

In an entertaining women's singles contest, Delhi's Sung Ji Hyun defeated Beiwen Zhang 12-15, 15-14, 15-9 to decrease the points gap. Beiwen, who won the first game, lost her touch in the second game and sixth-ranked Sung didn’t miss the chance as she gained rhythm to grab a 13-5 lead. Sung's mistakes helped Beiwen come back in the game as she wiped out the eight-point deficit before Sung prevailed at 14-14. Beiwen's error-prone game in the decider allowed Sung's winning the decider.

The second last encounter of the day was played between Delhi’s Tian Houwei and Mumbai's Son Wan Ho where Houwei's hard-fought victory over Son Wan Ho 13-15, 15-13, 15-9 made Mumbai's trump match a do-or-die contest. After winning the men’s doubles, Dae contributed in the mixed doubles win as well. In the company of Gabriela Stoeva, Lee showcased his class which helped Mumbai seal the mixed doubles match and the tie.

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