<p class="title">Hyderabad Hunters overcame a fighting Bengaluru Blasters 4-3 in a thrilling summit clash to claim their maiden title at the third Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mixed Doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Pia Bernadet put up a dominant display in the last match of the encounter to clinch the the title and the winners' prize purse for the Hunters. Cheered on by a packed house and a vociferous team at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Satwik and Pia beat Kim Sa Rang (Korea) and N Sikki Reddy (India) 15-11, 15-12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The five-match duel turned out to be a pulsating affair with the Blasters' World No 1 Viktor Axelsen and the Hunters' Olympic champion Carolina Marin winning their respective matches to make it 3-3 after the first four matches.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hunters began on the back foot, with their men's doubles pair of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong failing to get into their groove and losing 0-2.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hunters came back into the tie strongly, with their Trump player Lee Hyun Il coming up with a near immaculate game. The Korean was calm personified, dictating the pace and tone of the match to beat Subhanker Dey 2-0.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Axelsen then demolished Sai Praneeth to win his Trump match 15-5, 15-10 and give his side a slight edge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Blasters were 2-1 (3-2) on points at the midway stage. But former World No 1 Marin regained the initiative for the Hunters, winning the women's singles match against Kirsty Gilmour 15-8, 15-14.</p>
<p class="title">Hyderabad Hunters overcame a fighting Bengaluru Blasters 4-3 in a thrilling summit clash to claim their maiden title at the third Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mixed Doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Pia Bernadet put up a dominant display in the last match of the encounter to clinch the the title and the winners' prize purse for the Hunters. Cheered on by a packed house and a vociferous team at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Satwik and Pia beat Kim Sa Rang (Korea) and N Sikki Reddy (India) 15-11, 15-12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The five-match duel turned out to be a pulsating affair with the Blasters' World No 1 Viktor Axelsen and the Hunters' Olympic champion Carolina Marin winning their respective matches to make it 3-3 after the first four matches.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hunters began on the back foot, with their men's doubles pair of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong failing to get into their groove and losing 0-2.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hunters came back into the tie strongly, with their Trump player Lee Hyun Il coming up with a near immaculate game. The Korean was calm personified, dictating the pace and tone of the match to beat Subhanker Dey 2-0.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Axelsen then demolished Sai Praneeth to win his Trump match 15-5, 15-10 and give his side a slight edge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Blasters were 2-1 (3-2) on points at the midway stage. But former World No 1 Marin regained the initiative for the Hunters, winning the women's singles match against Kirsty Gilmour 15-8, 15-14.</p>