JOIN USCane Boutique outshine Peacock
The scoreline will not give a clear picture of the closeness of the contest between the two teams, with the Cane Boutique shuttlers holding their nerve when it mattered the most to register their second win from three matches.
Aditya Prakash gave Peacock the deserving lead with a 21-7, 21-12 win over Goutham Bhat. Mahima Aggarwal got the better of Uttara Prakash 21-16, 17-21, 21-10 in the women’s singles to bring Team Cane back into the tie.
Peacock’s mixed doubles pair of Praveen B and Divya A had a fabulous chance to take a 2-1 lead but the duo failed to cash in on the opportunity. The score was tied 19-all in the third game but an erratic display saw them suffering a 18-21, 21-18, 20-22 defeat at the hands of Team Cane’s Sobin Soman and Harshita P.
In the second men’s singles encounter, White Peacock’s Jagdish Yadav put up a steady show and took the first game but eventually lost 21-14, 8-21, 15-21 to Mohit Kamat. Team Cane’s Sunil Gladson and Vineeth Manuel edged out Sajith P V and Srinath J R 25-23, 21-13 to make it 4-1.
Earlier, Mahima had given Team Cane a toehold on the match with her win over Uttara.
The 13-year-old left-hander surged to a 10-3 lead in the first game as Uttara failed to read Mahima’s wristy smashes and drops. Mahima kept Uttara guessing with her smashes that had more wrist work than power.
The Team Cane shuttler showed good anticipation and superb judgement throughout the match. The State under-15 champion then went on to take the first game when her rival smashed into the net.
It was a close battle in the second game until 15-all. Then, for the first time in the match, Uttara breathed easy, building a three point-lead with the help of a reflex return coupled with two unforced errors from her rival. She built on it to win the game and level the match.
Uttara was expected to fare much better in the decider but pressure undid the 18-year-old. Uttara was wayward with her returns and went down without a fight in the third game. Team Cane then went from strength to strength as Peacock faded.
In the other match, HB Challengers overcame K2 Smashers 3-2. Challengers and Aratt Fighters share the top spot with six points each from four matches.
Results: Team Cane Boutique bt White Peacock 4-1 (Goutham Bhat lt to Aditya Prakash 7-21, 12-21; Mahima Aggarwal bt Uttara Prakash 21-16, 17-21, 21-10; Sobin Soman/ Harshita P bt Praveen B/ Divya A 21-18, 18-21, 22-20; Mohit Kamat bt Jagdish Yadav 14-21, 21-8, 21-15; Sunil Gladson/ Vineeth Manuel bt Sajith P V/ Srinath J R 25-23, 21-13).
HB Challengers bt K2 Smashers 3-2 (Phalgun BS lt to Abhishek Yeligar 10-21, 9-21; Arsheen Syeda Saadath bt Leela Lakshmi 17-21, 22-20, 21-17; Sanjeeth S/ Sangeetha Mari bt Girish Kumar V J/ Archana Pai 21-9, 21-14; Suraj R N lt to Prakash Jolly 14-21, 21-13, 13-21; Abhijeet N/ Guruprasad D bt Daniel S Farid/ Prateek Khurana 21-9, 21-10).
Today’s matches: K2 Smashers vs White Peacock; Li Ning Lions vs Flypower (6.30 pm).