Badminton fans in Hyderabad are set for a spectacle as the first of the three double headers of the PBL 2020 is scheduled to take place today at the GMC Balayogi Sats Indoor Stadium. With the table toppers Chennai Superstarz taking on the third-placed Pune 7 Aces and the Mumbai Rockets meeting the North Eastern Warriors later in the day.
What makes the first clash a highly entertaining one is how robust both the teams have looked so far. With the Chennai team remaining unbeaten in three ties and Pune in two, one will taste its first defeat in the fifth edition.
The biggest attraction of this tie is the possible face-off between Chennai’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Pune’s Chirag Shetty, who partnered each other to a historic Thailand Open win last year. Having known each other’s games inside out, it will be interesting to see how they perform on the court as adversaries.
Satwik’s smashes and his dancing skills have been a major talking point of the league as the 19-year-old looks to be thoroughly enjoying his first stint with the yellow brigade. Shetty, meanwhile, has shown exceptional chemistry with world champion Hendra Setiawan and has gone a flawless 2-0 in Pune’s outings so far.
“It will be interesting to face Chirag on the opposite side of the net this time. Both of us know each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well and the one who holds his nerves under pressure, will win the match,” said Satwik on the impending clash.
Pune, on the other hand, has been bolstered by the arrival of the Commonwealth Games Gold medallists Chris and Gabrielle Adcock, who have shown tremendous fighting spirit to grind out wins for their team. 2019 Thailand Masters champion Loh Kean Yew has also been a valuable addition to the team as evident from his one win and a fighting loss in two outings.