Dominant Bengaluru Blasters thump Dashers in opening match

Bengaluru Blasters opened their Premier Badminton League season with a thumping 5-2 victory over Delhi Dashers at the Sirifort Sports Complex on Thursday.

Up 2-0, Blasters found themselves locked 2-2 with Dashers after Sung Ji Hyun won the Trump match for the host team. That was the only match Dashers could win in the tie. Blasters bounced right back through their Trump match where World No 1 Viktor Axelsen defeated Tian Houwei 15-11, 15-11 in the men' singles for an unbeatable 4-2 lead before their men's doubles pairing of Mathias Boe and Kim Sa Rang put perfect finishing touches.

Blasters jumped ahead in the opening game when their mixed doubles pairing of Rang and Sikki Reddy beat Ashwini Ponnappa and Ivanov Vladimir, 15-10, 12-15, 15-11.

Dashers, banking on the superiority of their singles players, looked to bounce back in the second game, but Chong Wei Feng put up a stellar performance for Blasters. The World No 45 rallied to shock World No 15 Wing Ki Wong Vincent of Hong Kong 10-15, 15-13, 15-8 to increase Blasters' lead.

If Vincent lived up to his reputation in the first game, it was Feng who impressed with his range and temperament in the next two. The southpaw from Malaysia troubled Vincent with his angles and deceptive game. The second game was locked at 13-13 but Feng took away the next two points to force the decider.

As Feng played with conviction in the final game, Vincent slumped to a stream of errors. The Malaysian reeled off last five points to wrap up a quality contest.

Dashers now pinned their hopes on World No 6 Sung in the women's singles, their Trump match, against World No 16 Kirsty Gilmour. Sung, a former World No 2, began the contest with flourish to go up a game. And though Gilmour, a 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist took the second game, she was blown away in the decider by Korean who carved out 10-15, 15-8, 15-11 victory to level the tie.

But with Axelsen still to turn up, Blasters were in the hunt. The tall Dane, who has had a fantastic year, that included World Championships and Dubai Super Series final titles, regaled the crowd with his craft and reflexes, and comfortably took Blasters home.

Results: Bengaluru Blasters bt Delhi Dashers 5-2: Mixed doubles: Kim Sa Rang/Sikki Reddy bt Ashwini Ponnappa/Ivanov Vladimir 15-10, 12-15, 15-11, Men's singles: Chong Wei Feng bt Wing Ki Wong Vincent Kong 10-15, 15-13, 15-8, Women's singles (Trump match): Kirsty Gilmour lt Sung Ji Hyun 10-15, 15-8, 15-11, Men's singles: Viktor Axelsen bt Tian Houwei 15-11, 15-11, Men's doubles: Boe Mithas/Sang bt Ivan Sozonov/Ivanov Vladimir 15-9 15-12