Krrish Delhi Smashers smash Banga Beats’ hopes
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Bengaluru: Playing in front of the home crowd, with a raging controversy brewing in the background, it was a test of character more than skill for Banga Beats’ in a must-win tie against Delhi Smashers here at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium on Sunday.
Much to the disappointment of their fans, a sizeable number of whom burnt the midnight oil, Banga Beats fell short as they went down 1-4 to the Delhi team, but not without putting up a valiant fight.
Riding high on tactical game plans, Delhi, who despite the win bowed out of the League, left Beats with just a superficial hope of making the semifinals.
Beats who are now placed at the bottom of the table, got off to a winning start.
Playing the first singles in the crunch contest, Parupalli Kashyap was in sublime form as he combined his cross-court game and deceptive drop shots with equal finesse to romp home 21-15, 21-11 against B. Sai Praneeth.
Kashyap, who was coming off a shock defeat against Pune Pistons’ Saurabh Verma, was in control of the proceedings throughout the encounter and never allowed his 21-year-old Hyderabad mate to settle down.
Kashyap engaged his opponents in long rallies and used speed to his advantage, while Praneeth continued to make unforced errors.
The opening game went into the first break with Kashyap hanging on to a slender 7-6 lead.
From there on, Kashyap opened up his game plan and raced through. The second game was no different with the 25-year-old completing the formalities in no time.
But the Beats’ happiness and lead was short lived, as Delhi pulled one back.
The next three ties were close, with Beats staying in contention until the end.
The women’s singles tie went down to the wire, with home hope Carolina Marin putting up a spirited fight before going down to Jindapon Nichaon 1721, 21-15, 9-11.
Against her 22-year-old Thai opponent who came in with an attacking game plan, Marin, the Spanish ace could have turned the tide if not for some unforced errors and ill-timed service returns which cost her the match.
In the men’s doubles event, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng, who haven’t lost a match in the league so far, thwarted the competitive duo of Carston Mogensen and Akshay Dewalkar 21-11, 20-21, 11-7 to give Delhi a 2-1 advantage.
Called-up to play in the nth hour, 34-year-old Arvind Bhat made H.S Prannoy sweat for every point, losing 18-21, 21-7, 811 thereby ending his team’s victory hopes.
In the inconsequential mixed doubles tie, the dominant pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju added to Beats’ misery, shutting out Carston Mogensen and Carolina Marin 21-16, 15-21, 11-9.
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