Led by their icon player and team captain Saina Nehwal, Hyderabad Hotshots trounced Awadhe Warriors 3-1 to be crowned champions of the inaugural Indian Badminton League at the NSCI complex here on Saturday night.
Building on Saina’s dominating win over P.V. Sindhu, the Hotshots stretched the lead to 2-1 after their doubles pair of Goh V. Shem and Wah Lim Khim beat favourites Mathias Boe and Markis Kido 21-14, 13-21, 11-4.
Chennai-born Ajay Jayaram then registered a thrilling 10-21, 21-17, 11-7 win over compatriot R.M.V. Gurusaidutt to help Hyderabad clinch the final with the mixed doubles tie to spare. The winners bagged a whopping prize of `3.5 crore and a stunning trophy while the Warriors received `1.75 crore.
The Lucknow side were guilty of losing focus after starting with a win in the first tie where K. Srikanth outplayed world no. 19 Tanongsak Saensomboon-suk 21-12, 21-20.
Nehwal was in impeccable form right through the tournament winning seven straight games. She had no trouble in beating Sindhu twice and registered a memorable win against higher-ranked Juliane Schenk too. The queen of Indian badminton said she now wants to end the season on a high.
“It is not easy to win seven matches in a row but I was much focused that I could pull off the matches. Schenk is a tough opponent, and Sindhu, everyone is giving their best.”
With the first season of the IBL receiving a warm response, Saina said the league will grow in stature
“Nobody expected it would be so successful because everyone was comparing it with the IPL, which is actually not right at this point of time. We are trying to make it big but first time of course it is not so easy. I am sure in the coming years, it will catch up with IPL,” she said.