Masters face Warriors’ challenge

The hiccups in the Indian Badminton League over the past two weeks have been plenty, but badminton buffs who have braved odd timings to watch stars in action have been treated to some good fare. Going by the fortnight’s proceedings, it’s the form on the day rather than reputation that has decided the fate of matches. On Thursday, at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Awadhe Warriors take on Mumbai Masters for a berth in the final of the inaugural event. Both teams, who have an equal measures of talent and experience come into the last four face-off with 16 points each, having won an identical three matches and lost two each. When the two teams last met in the league stage here on Saturday, Warriors had edged past Mumbai 3-2. On paper, with a line-up of a galaxy of stars including world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei, Mark Zwiebler and the formidable Tine Baun, Masters are the stronger team. But given the Warriors’ progress so far, they are no push overs either. Having lost their first two outings, the Lucknow-based team, riding on the strength of their icon player Sindhu, has delivered three victories on the trot. Another factor that has clicked for the Warriors is the pair of Mathias Boe and Markis Kido. On the other hand, against big guns Lee and Zwiebler, Warriors’ men’s singles challengers K. Srikanth and R.M. V. Gurusaidutt may find the going tough. Banga Beats edge past Hotshots Staring down the barrel with a 0-2 deficit, the Banga Beats staged a rousing fightback against Hyderabad Hotshots to win the final league tie of the season 3-2 at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The revival was kickstarted by the men’s doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Carsten Mogensen, who defeated the Hotshots pair of Kim Lim Wah and Shem V. Goh 15-21, 21-15, 11-1. Jan O. Jorgensen then pulled the beats level with a 21-11, 21-8 win over Ajay Jayaram. Mogensen then paired up with Aparna Balan and defeated Pradnya Gadre-Tarun Kona 18-21, 21-16, 11-9.