PBL 2017: World no.2 Carolina Marin beats Saina Nehwal, helps Awadhe Warriors crush Hyderabad Hunters 5-0

Hyderabad: Awadhe Warriors opened their Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) campaign in a grand style, thrashing Hyderabad Hunters 5-0 here on Monday.

The tie started with the men`s singles clash between B. Sai Praneeth of Hyderabad and Vincent Wong Wing Ki, with the latter winning 11-13, 11-6, 13-11.

Hyderabad pulled level 1-1 when reigning Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin moved past 2012 Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal 15-14, 11-5.

"It was a great match and obviously it is great to have won. Saina is a great player and to beat a player like her is always a nice feeling. And also I would like to thank the fans for the support they have shown the team and it helped me to perform better," Carolina said after the match.

Saina said: "It was little too difficult to control the shuttle and it did have an impact on my game. Marin had a slight advantage over me because she played here yesterday and had better knowledge of the conditions. But taking away nothing from her, she played well and deserved to win.

"Even I am happy with my performance and gave a strong fight in the first game and I was overall satisfied. I am confident to bouncing back."

With the score tied 1-1, Awadhe`s mixed doubles pair of Bodin Issara and Savitree Amitrapai won their `Trump Match` against Hoi Wah Chau and R. Satwiksairaj to help the visitors go 3-1 up.

In the next match, Kidambi Srikanth of Awadhe beat Rajiv Ouseph 11-13, 11-7, 13-11 in an action packed clash to seal the tie for his team and take an unassailable 4-1 lead.

The poor performance from Hyderabad continued in their `Trump Match` as well, as veteran Malaysian doubles pair of Boon Heong Tan and Wan Kiong Tan lost to V. Shem Goh and Markis Kido 11-7, 8-11, 11-13. The match saw Hunters draw a negative, enabling Awadhe to record a 5-0 triumph.