IBL Day 2 highlights: Saina Nehwal beats Pusarla Venkata Sindhu; Hyderabad Hotshots, Mumbai Masters win

Saina Nehwal's Hyderabad Hotshots beat PV Sindhu's Awadhe Warriors 3-2 in first match on second day of the inaugural Indian Badminton League. Mumbai Masters beat Banga Beats 3-2 in the second match of the day. Catch all the IBL Day 2 highlights here:

 

Catch all the pics from Day 2 of IBL. Read reactions from Saina and Sindhu:

I became negative and defensive: Sindhu

Media made me lose even before Sindhu match begun: Saina

Sindhu has a bright future: Saina

 

The inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League now moves to Lucknow, which will host the six teams on August 17, 18.

01:10 (IST) Results of the day:

 

Mumbai Masters (MM) beat Banga Beats (BB) 3-2

 

Men's singles: Vladimir Ivanov (MM) beat P Kashyap (BB) 21-18 21-18.

 

Women's singles: Tai Tzu Ying (BB) beat Tine Baun (MM) 21-17 21-18.

 

Men's doubles: Carsten Mogensen/Akshay Dewalkar (BB) beat Pranav Chopra/Manu Attri (MM) 21-13 21-12.

 

Men's singles: Marc Zwiebler (MM) beat Yun Hu (BB) 17-21 21-17 11-7.

 

Mixed doubles: Vladimir Ivanov/Sikki Reddy (MM) beat Akshay Dewalkar/Aparna Balan (BB) 21-18 21-19.

 

Hyderabad Hotshots (HH) beat Awadhe Warriors (AW) 3-2:

 

Men's singles: Tanongsak (HH) beats Gurusaidutt (AW) 15-21 21-14 11-9.

 

Women's singles: Saina Nehwal (HH) beat PV Sindhu (AW) 21-19 21-8.

 

Men's doubles: Markis Kido/Mathias Boe (AW) beat VS Goh/KW Lim (HH) 21-14 21-20.

 

Men's singles: K Srikanth (AW) beat Ajay Jayaram (HH) 21-17 21-19.

 

Mixed doubles: V Shem Goh/Pradnya Gadre (HH) beat Marcis Kido/Sapsiree (AW) 21-9 19-21 11-8.

01:02 (IST) Player of the match, Vladimir Ivanov, who pockets USD 500, said: "Our best is still to come. We won today without World No.1 Lee Chong Wei, I'm sure we can beat every team, once he is fit to play for us."

01:00 (IST) After the loss to Mumbai Masters, Banga Beats icon player Parupalli Kashyap said: "I congratulate Mumbai. It is just the starting game for us, I'm sure we'll get positive results. Credit goes to Ivanov. Enjoyed the crowd support, hope they travel with us everywhere."

00:49 (IST) Mixed Doubles: Mumbai Masters' Vladimir Ivanov/Sikki Reddy beat Banga Beats' A Dewalkar/Aparna Balan 21-18 21-19 in final match. Mumbai Masters beat Banga Beats 3-2.

00:30 (IST) Mixed Doubles: Mumbai Masters' Vladimir Ivanov/Sikki Reddy take 1st game 21-18 vs Banga Beats' Akshay Dewalkar/Aparna Balan.

00:20 (IST) Mixed Doubles: Banga Beats' Akshay Dewalkar/Aparna Balan tied at 9-9 in 1st game vs Mumbai Masters' Ivanov/Sikki Reddy.

00:02 (IST) Men's singles: Mumbai Masters' Marc Zwiebler beats Yun Hu of Banga Beats 17-21 21-17 11-7 in penultimate game on Thursday. Mumbai level contest at 2-2 against Banga Beats.

23:50 (IST) Men's singles: Mumbai's Marc Zwiebler wins 2nd game 21-17 vs Banga Beats' Yun Hu, who won first game 21-17. Match to go into 'race to 11' decider.

23:35 (IST) FACTOID: Marc Zwiebler of Germany is ranked No.11 in the world. His opponent Yun Hu of Hong Kong is current World No.6 in men's badminton rankings.

23:26 (IST) Men's singles: Banga Beats' Hu Yun wins first game 21-17 against Mumbai Masters' Marc Zwiebler.

23:15 (IST) Final men's singles of the day, between Hu Yun of Banga Beats and German Marc Zwiebler of Mumbai Masters. Yun leads Zwiebler 14-12 in the first game.

23:02 (IST) Carsten Mogensen/Akshay Dewalkar of Banga Beats cruise past Pranav Chopra/Manu Attri of Mumbai Masters 21-13 21-12 in men's doubles. Banga Beats lead Mumbai Masters 2-1 with a men's singles and a mixed doubles still to play.

22:52 (IST) Carsten Mogensen/Akshay Dewalkar of Banga Beats take 7-4 lead over Pranav Chopra/Manu Attri of Mumbai Masters in 2nd game.

22:43 (IST) Carsten Mogensen/Akshay Dewalkar of Banga Beats take 1st game 21-13 vs Pranav Chopra/Manu Attri of Mumbai Masters.

22:38 (IST) Carsten Mogensen and Akshay Dewalkar lead Pranav Chopra and Manu Attri 14-7 in the first game.

22:35 (IST) Men's doubles going on now: Carsten Mogensen and Akshay Dewalkar of Banga Beats vs Pranaav Chopra and Manu Attri of Mumbai Masters.

22:17 (IST) Women's singles: Tai Tzu Ying beats Mumbai Masters' Tine Baun 21-17 21-18. Banga Beats draw level with Mumbai Masters at 1-1.

22:00 (IST) Women's singles: Tai Tzu Ying of Banga Beats takes 1st game 21-17 over Mumbai Masters' Tine Baun.

21:50 (IST) Tai Tzu Ying of Banga Beats leads Mumbai Masters' Tine Baun 14-11 in first game of first women's singles of second match today.

21:40 (IST) After the win over Kashyap, Russian Ivanov says, "It was difficult for me. Was playing Kashyap for the first time. Had no strategy, no tactics, I only fought. We are professionals, so it will not bother if my mixed doubles match is later today.'

21:35 (IST) Mumbai Masters' Vladimir Ivanov downs Banga Beats' icon player P Kashyap 21-18 21-18 in 41 minutes. The Russian held the nerve till the end as Kashyap faltered with unforced errors in the latter stages of second game. Mumbai Masters take a 1-0 lead over Banga Beats.

21:25 (IST) P Kashyap leads 14-10 in 2nd game vs Vladimir Ivanov. Good rally of clear smashes by the Indian.

21:18 (IST) P Kashyap leads 7-2 in 2nd game vs Vladimir Ivanov, who won 1st game 21-18.

21:13 (IST) Mumbai Beats' Vladimir Ivanov holds nerve to seal the first game 21-18 against Banga Beats' Parupalli Kashyap.

21:10 (IST) A series of smashes and drop shots helps Ivanov take 18-17 lead over Kashyap.

21:05 (IST) Kashyap trails 12-14 to Ivanov in first game.

20:56 (IST) Banga Beats' P Kashyap leads Mumbai Masters' Vladimir Ivanov 7-2 in first game.

20:45 (IST): 2nd Match of the day now: Banga Beats vs Mumbai Masters. Parupalli Kashyap plays his first game, representing the Banga Beats, against Vladimir Ivanov of Russia (Mumbai Masters) in first men's singles match.

20:34 (IST) Awadhe Warriors icon player PV Sindhu after loss: "It was a little unlucky for us. Our mixed doubles team was playing well." Hyderabad Hotshots icon Saina Nehwal, who was awarded USD 500 for being the player of the match, said: "It was an excellent team performance. Would like to credit our senior Taufik Hidayat for his guidance all the way through. The start is good for us in the tournament, hopefully the end will also be good."

20:19 (IST) Mixed doubles: V Shem Goh/Pradnya Gadre (HH) beat Marcis Kido/Sapsiree (AW) 21-9 19-21 11-8. Hyderabad Hotshots beat Awadhe Warriors 3-2.

20:08 (IST) Marcis Kido/Sapsiree (AW) take 2nd game 21-19 vs V Shem Goh/Pradnya Gadre (HH), who won 1st game 21-9. Match goes into final third game - another race to 11!

19:58 (IST) V Shem Goh and Pradnya Gadre lead second game 11-8 against Marcis Kido and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

 

19:47 (IST) V Shem Goh and Pradnya Gadre (HH) take first game 21-9 against Marcis Kido and Sapsiree Taerattanachai (AW).

19:40 (IST) V Shem Goh and Pradnya Gadre lead first game 7-3 against Marcis Kido and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

 

It now goes down to the deciding mixed doubles between V Shem Goh and Pradnya Gadre of Hyderabad Hotshots and Marcis Kido and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Awadhe Warriors.

19:24 (IST) K Srikanth of the Awadhe Warriors beats Hyderabad Hotshots' Ajay Jayaram 21-17 21-19. Awadhe make it 2-2 vs Hyderabad.

19:12 (IST) K Srikanth of the Awadhe Warriors leads second game 7-5 against Hyderabad Hotshots' Ajay Jayaram. The former won the first game 21-17.

19:06 (IST) Men's Singles: K Srikanth of the Awadhe Warriors takes first game 21-17 against Hyderabad Hotshots' Ajay Jayaram.

19:00 (IST) "It's too early in the career for a PV Sindhu to take on someone like Saina Nehwal", says 2004 Olympics silver medallist Indian shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on the sidelines at the Sri Fort Sports Complex.

18:57 (IST) Srikanth seizing this one-sided match so far against Ajay Jayaram. Srikanth leads 14-6 in the first game.

18:52 (IST) K Srikanth leads Jayaram 7-3 after first short break.

18:47 (IST) Hyderabad Hotshots' Ajay Jayaram takes on K Srikanth of the Awadhe Warriors in today's second men's singles.

18:38 (IST) Awadhe Warriors' Markis Kido/Mathias Boe beat Hyderabad Hotshots' VS Goh/KW Lim 21-14 21-20. Awadhe trail Hyderabad 1-2 now.

18:27 (IST) Minutes after her win over PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal is seen doing Hindi Commentary for the host broadcasters.

18:15 (IST) Awadhe Warriors' Markis Kido/Mathias Boe take 1-0 lead over Hyderabad Hotshots' V Shem Goh/Khim Wah Lim after taking first game 21-14.

18:03 (IST) Men's doubles: Malaysians V Shem Goh/Khim Wah Lim, representing the Hyderabad Hotshots are taking on Awadhe Warriors' Markis Kido of Indonesia and Mathias Boe of Denmark.

 

So Hyderabad Hotshots take a 2-0 lead over Awadhe Warriors as World Championship bronze-winner PV Sindhu lost to World No.4 Saina Nehwal. Tough ask for Awadhe to come back and force a win from here, they need to win all remaining game.

17:52 (IST) After the win Saina says: "Lot of pressure at the start of the game, Sindhu played very well in the start of the first game. She'll play better in the next few games. We'll be cheering for our team to win the contest today.

17:49 (IST) Saina seals it, a 21-19 21-8 win, easily outsmarting young Sindhu, who looked a little overawed by the situation.

 

17:46 (IST) Pressure mounting on Sindhu, who makes two more unforced errors. Saina leads the second game 16-7 and winning the battle of the mind for sure.

17:43 (IST) Saina's trademark cross-court smash takes her to 14-6 lead after the second short break.

17:40 (IST) Saina's smashes coming to the fore yet again. The World No. 4 is smashing it close to Sindhu, not give her long arms enough room to make a shot. Saina leads second game 12-5.

17:38 (IST) Time for first short break and Saina leads Sindhu 7-4 in second game. Saina won first game 21-19. Remember, Saina was trailing 3-7 in the first short break in 1st game, then she came back strongly. Can Sindhu do the same in this game?

17:37 (IST) Four straight points and Saina leads 6-3 over Sindhu. Sheer experience paying off for her.

17:35 (IST) Clever play by Saina makes it 3-3 level in the second game.

17:33 (IST) A running smash by Sindhu opens the second game. Sindhu up 1-0 in second game.

17:30 (IST) Saina takes the first game 21-19 against Sindhu. The ace Indian came back from a 10-15 deficit to seal the game after a series of smashes and unforced errors by the teen sensation.

17:28 (IST) Saina just two points away now from sealing first game, 19-17 to her.

17:26 (IST) Saina stepping up her game big time as Sindhu falls prey to silly judgement. Saina makes it 17-16 in her favour now.

17:24 (IST) Four straight points bring Saina back into the game. Sindhu still leads 15-14.

17:22 (IST) Admirable play by Sindhu takes her to 14-10 advantage over Saina.

17:20 (IST) Sindhu leads 13-9 over Saina. Both players have 3 unforced errors each so far in the first game.

17:17 (IST) Saina scores hat-trick of points but Sindhu has a slender 9-7 lead.

17:16 (IST) Saina is relying on smashes, but Sindhu is moving well on the court. Sindhu leads first game 8-4.

17:13 (IST) Flurry of points for Sindhu makes it 7-3 in her favour as players take first short break.

17:10 (IST) Saina Nehwal opens the scoring. Saina leads Sindhu 2-1 in first game.

17:05 (IST) Just couple of minutes prior to the start of the marquee clash, Saina says, "I love my fans, because of them only I've done well in tournaments, I'll give my best today. I never think of winning or losing, just want to do my best for the team.

 

Meanwhile, Sindhu says, "I played very well at worlds. I'll give my 100 per cent here as well. We've never played each other earlier in any tournament, so this will be my first time.

17:00 (IST) After the win, Hyderabad's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, the 22-year-old from Thailand says, "it was a good game, I was confident of my chances".

16:58 (IST) Hyderabad Hotshots' Tanongsak (Thailand) beats Awadhe Warriors' Gurusaidutt 15-21 21-14 11-9 in first men's singles contest of the day. Hyderabad Hotshots take 1-0 lead over Awadhe Warriors.

 

16:45 (IST) Tanongsak takes second game 21-14 vs Gurusaidutt. The game goes into the third game - first player to register 11 points wins the decider.

16:40 (IST) Ace Indian shooter and Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is enjoying the game at the Siri Fort Complex.

16:36 (IST) World No.1 Lee Chong Wei will miss his first game for Mumbai Masters against Banga Beats later today (Read full story). Meanwhile, Gurusaidutt fights back against Tanongsak in the second game, now trails 10-12.

16:31 (IST) Tanongsak of Thailand leads Gurusaidutt 7-2 in the second game. The Indian won the first game 21-15.

 

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram is seen in stands, cheering the players.

16:25 (IST): Gurusaidutt takes 1-0 lead after winning first game 21-15 over Tanongsak. Awadhe Warriors lead this men's singles contest 1-0 over Hyderabad Hotshots.

 

16:17 (IST): RMV Gurusaidutt extends his lead to 11-8 over Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the first game.

 

16:08 (IST): RMV Gurusaidutt takes a 5-0 lead over Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the first game.

 

FIRST MATCH - Men's singles: Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand and playing for Hyderabad Hotshots takes on RMV Gurusaidutt of India, playing for Awadhe Warriors, Lucknow in the opener.

 

15:56(IST): Players are on court. Sindhu and her team Lucknow's Awadhe Warriors in black while Saina leads her team Hyderabad Hotshots in yellow.

 

15:47(IST): Former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat feels that the emergence of the phenomenally talented PV Sindhu will not only reduce the burden of expectations on Saina Nehwal but also make India a force to reckon with in women's singles category.

The 18-year-old Sindhu had won the bronze medal at the recently-concluded World Championship and Taufik said she can provide a good support to Saina in women's singles. (Full report)

 

15:31(IST): Saina was all praise for her 'rival': While she missed out, her younger colleague Pusarla Venkata Sindhu went on a giant-killing spree and clinched the bronze in her maiden World Championship appearance. The 18-year-old was rewarded for her achievement as she was picked her for the Arjuna award today.

Asked about Sindhu receiving the Arjuna Award, Saina said: "It's natural when you win something at international level, you will get the award. So it was nothing new. It is good that she won the bronze medal there after beating two Chinese players. I wish her all the best." (Read story)

15:30(IST): Just after winning world championship bronze, PV Sindhu had said this : "I'm thrilled to win the medal, and my immediate target is to excel in the next two weeks at the Indian Badminton League. I am ready to play against Saina and will try to give my best performance. Hope it will be a good show." (Read full story)

 

15:24(IST): With the event now underway, all eyes will be on the marquee clash today. It was known well in advance that Saina Nehwal will take on Pusarla Venkata Sindhu on India's Independence Day. What a contest we have on our hands with the World Championship semi-finalist Sindhu lined up against someone who she looks up to, India's no.1 Saina who reached quarters at the worlds. While Sindhu is representing Lucknow franchise Awadhe Warriors, Saina is sitting comfortably with her 'home' franchise Hyderabad Hotshots.

 

The badminton world seems divided. Doubles specialist and commonwealth gold medallist Jwala Gutta feels Sindhu will come out victorious. Speaking to NDTV, she said: "It's always good to have somebody new winning. And Sindhu is riding high on her world championship bronze. So, it will be good to see Sindhu giving a good performance on Thursday." (Read other 'divided' reactions)

15:22(IST): The IBL got off to a great start not just on the court but off it too. It was a colourful show of laser lights, acrobatics, Bollywood songs and dance as the half-an-hour opening ceremony started the proceedings at the Siri Fort Sports complex.

Flags of different franchises were carried by women inside big bubbles and acrobatics were performed by artists who used big size circles and cubes to showcase their skills, enthralling the sparse crowd.

The stage was next taken by Neeti Mohan, who sang 'jiyare jiyare' from the movie 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'. (Read full report)

 

15:15(IST): After a vibrant half-an-hour opening ceremony, India rising shuttler B Sai Praneeth and World number seven Tien Ming Nguyen from Vietnam set the ball rolling for the competition as they clashed in the men's singles match. Giant-killer Praneeth earned the first blood for Delhi as he notched up a stunning 21-16 21-20 victory over Tien Minh but the hosts lost the lead when Pune's Juliane Schenk of Germany notched up an easy 21-15 21-6 over Nichaon Jindapon of Thailand in the second game and brought back the Pistons at 1-1. (Photo gallery from Day 1)

 

The match was all tied at 2-2 with decider to go. Former women doubles combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who won India's second bronze in 2011 World Championship, then took the court but as rivals, representing their respective franchises Delhi and Pune.

 

It turned out to be an exciting clash but it was Ashwini and Joachim Fischer Nielsen who held their nerves to surpass Jwala and Kien Keat Koo 21-19 16-21 11-3 in a hard-fought battle for supremacy. Pune Pistons thus won the contest 3-2. (Read full report and match highlights)