Mumbai Masters overcame the psychological disadvantage of their missing star, Lee Chong Wei, to carve out an exciting 3-2 win over Banga Beats in Indian Badminton League action here on Thursday night.
The Masters rode on the scintillating show by Russian world no. 41 Vladimir Ivanov in their fiercely-contested victory
Ivanov got the Masters’ away to the best possible start, beating Indian world no. 14 Parupalli Kashyap in a thrilling contest before pulling off the deciding mixed doubles match pairing up with N. Sikki Reddy.
Ivanov and Sikki defeated Akshay Dewalkar and Aparna Balan 21-18, 21-19 in the fifth rubber to seal the issue.
Earlier, Ivanov had to overcome a stiff challenge from Kashyap 21-18, 21-18 in the opening men’s singles.
“This was the first time I was playing against Kashyap and I was not sure of his shots. His strokes were quite fast but I had a psychological advantage over him,” said the Russian.
Kashyap, on the other hand, praised Ivanov for displaying a superior game on the day.
Chinese Taipei’s eighth ranked Ying Tai Tzu, who levelled the scores for Banga Beats, felt that crowd support helped her pull off the nail biting women’s singles match against All England champion Tine Baun.
Youngster Akshay Dewalker then partnered world no. 3 men’s doubles player Carston Mogensen to give Banga Beats a 2-1 lead as they saw off Pranav Chopra and Manu Attri 21-13, 21-13. A delighted Dewalker said; “Mogensen is my idol and playing with him is like a dream come true. The crowd support was amazing.”
The second men’s singles was another exciting clash between Hong Kong’s Hu Yun and German Marc Zqwibler, as the crowd roared for every point the shuttlers earned.
At one point it seemed that Hu would take away the match, giving Banga Beats a 3-1 win.
But Zweibler rallied to defeat Hu 17-21, 21–17, 11–6, leaving Ivanov the job of finishing what he had started in the decisive mixed doubles match.
On Saturday, Delhi Smashers would look to bring their campaign back on track when they take on high-flying Hyderabad Hotshots, while Pune Pistons would be aiming to maintain their winning run against Mumbai Masters in the second leg in Lucknow.