Rajiv Ouseph won the trump match as Delhi Acers pulled off a 4-1 win against Mumbai Rockets in a Premier Badminton league tie played at Indoor Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday.
With the win, Delhi became the table toppers with 20 points ahead of Awadhe Warriors, who are on 17 points. Both teams have qualified for the semifinals.
Rajiv beat his rival R M V Gurusaidutt comfortably 15-7, 15-10 in the fifth match of the tie.
P C Thulasi denied trump match for Mumbai’s Ruthvika Gade as the match helped Delhi to bounce back after their mixed doubles pair Akshay Dewalkar and Aparna Balan lost to Kamilla Juhl and Vladimir Ivanov 13-15, 11-15.
Thulasi, in an exciting encounter, beat Ruthvika 15-11, 8-15, and 15-13.
After losing the trump match, it was left to H S Prannoy to bring the team back into the tie, but he lost to Tommy Sugiarto 15-8, 15-6 win.
Chennai enter semis
Chennai Smashers qualified for the semifinals after beating Bangalore Top Guns 3-2 later on Wednesday.
In a smart move, Chennai opted for the trump match in their very first game of the tie and won it to make life difficult for the hosts. Bangalore Top Guns then had to win all their matches to gain five points to reach last-4.
Sony Dwi Kuncoro dashed all the hopes of the hosts after beating Sameer Verma 15-10, 10-15, 15-8.
Bangalore's Hoon Thien How and J F Nielse beat Chris Adcoack and Pranaav Chopra 15-7 15-8.
Srikanth Kidambi then got Bangalore race past Chennai with a 2-1 lead when he overwhelmed his rival Brice leverdez 15-4 15-12.