Playing their first home game, the Hyderabad Hotshots got off to a roaring start in front of a capacity, decidedly partisan crowd at the G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium on Tuesday as world no. 4 Saina Nehwal extended the lead to 2-0 with a 21-17, 14-21, 11-8 win over Ying Tai Tzu of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles.
Earlier, world no. 19 Tanongsak Saemsom-boonsuk defeated local star and world no. 14 Parupalli Kashyap, 21-20, 21-18 in the first men’s singles.
The Thai shuttler hit the ground running, taking a 5-0 lead before the local lad opened his account. It wasn’t until the scoreline read 7-2 in Tanongsak’s favour that Kashyap really stepped it up, winning five points in rapid-fire succession.
From there on, both players matched each other for aggression and deftness as the gap grew smaller. Eventually, Kashyap pulled level at 10-10 and took the next two points.
Tanongsak kept snapping at Kashyap’s heels throughout, never letting up the pressure as the game went down to the wire. Both shuttlers were walking a knife’s edge at 20-20 and a few moments later, Tanongsak clinched the first game.
The Hotshots shuttler, with increased confidence, took the second game by the scruff of its neck, carving out a healthy lead against his higher-ranked opponent. With the game poised at 13-3, it seemed as if it could go only one way but Kashyap had other ideas.
Refusing to give up, the 26-year-old kept engaging Tanongsak in lengthy rallies and managed to win four consecutive points to come within six points of Tanongsak. But Tanongsak was in complete control and closed out the second game at 21-18 as the Hotshots took a 1-0 lead in the tie.
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