Hyderabad Hunters beat Delhi Acers 5-2 in the final league tie to advance into the semifinals of the Vodafone Premier Badminton Season 2, powered by Maruti Suzuki at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.
Hunters will now face Mumbai Rockets in second semifinals on Friday, while the Chennai Smashers will go up against table toppers Awadhe Warriors in a mouth-watering clash, which will pit the superstars of Indian badminton Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu against each other.
Needing just three points to qualify for the knock-out stages, it was Carolina Marin who stood up to the expectations of her team and made the scoreline 4-2 to pave the way for her team with a game in hand.
Marin, who has been in superb form throughout the league, was entrusted with the responsibility of playing the trump match and she did not fail to deliver by beating Nitchaon Jindapol 15-14, 11-4. The win was enough for her team to take the last remaining spot.
Earlier in the day, starting the tie, it was two of India's rising star Siril Verma of Delhi Acers and Sameer Verma of Hyderabad Hunters who went up against each other in a men's singles match which Sameer Verma won after losing the first game and helped his team take a 1-0 lead. Sameer started well and went into the mid-game break with a lead of 6-3. However, after the break Siril turned the tides and dominated the proceedings to win the game 11-8. In the second game, the Hunters' player did not waste his good start and won the game 11-3. Sameer dominated the third game and made short-work of Siril to win 11-3
The second match of the tie saw Jwala Gutta/Vladimir Ivanov of Acers take on Hoi Wah Chau and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy of Hunters. The Hyderabad pair was on fire and did not lose much sweat and won the match 11-3, 11-4 to go 2-0 up and inflict further damage to Delhi.
Delhi pulled one back through Jan O Jorgensen as he beat Rajiv Ouseph 11-5, 11-7 in straight games to win the match and tie the score 2-2.
Going into the last match of the tie with a 4-2 lead and the tie already in their pocket, Boon Heong Tan and Wee Kiong Tan of Hunters beat Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov 11-9, 13-11 in the men's doubles match to finish the tie on high.