Bengaluru, Mumbai look to bounce back in PBL

Having lost their previous ties, Bengaluru Top Guns and Mumbai Rockets will look to bounce back when they lock horns in their second tie of the Premier Badminton League here on Tuesday.

The Top Guns will expect Kidambi Srikanth to give them the required impetus for the team to bounce back as he is riding high on confidence after beating two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei on Sunday.

Srikanth versus HS Prannoy match is expected to be an exciting encounter with the former holding an edge over his fellow Gopichand Academy trainee, having beaten him twice including a memorable three set win (21-12, 12-21, 14-21) in the 2015 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold.

Though Srikanth is the higher ranked player at World number nine compared to Prannoy, who is ranked 20, both are touted to be strong Olympic hopefuls for India in the men’s singles category. Srikanth is confident of leading his team to victory.

Bengaluru will have to be careful about who they pick to play against RMV Gurusaidutt — Sameer Verma or Anand Pawar. Mumbai Rockets, placed second in the league table, will miss services of their Mixed Doubles’ specialist Kamilla Juhl due to international commitments.

Top Guns will look to take advantage of her absence in the doubles category with the services of their Malaysian mavericks Hoon Thien How and Khim Wah Lim who posed a serious threat to the World number four duo of Carsten Morgensen and Markis Kido at Mumbai in their first encounter, ending their night with a tight loss (15-13, 9-15, 14-15) in the men’s doubles fixture.