Awadhe Warriors earned a spot in the semi-finals, defeating Bengaluru Blasters 4-3 in the Premier Badminton League. Awadhe’s aces Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were both victorious in their respective matches.
The day started with a win for the Blasters as Sourabh Verma beat Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Awadhe Warriors in two straight sets 13-11 11-7.
The second match of the day was a mixed doubles encounter between Savitree Amitrapai and Bodin Isara of the Warriors and Sung Hyun Ho and Siki Reddy of Blasters. The Warriors pair won 11-9 4-11 11-5. In the second men’s singles, 2014 China Open winner Kidambi Srikanth then stunned World No. 3 Axelsen 11-9 11-9 to give a 2-1 lead to the Awadhe Warriors.
Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal then pulled off a comeback win over Cheung Ngan Yi defeating her 9-11 11-5 11-5 in the women’s singles tie which was the trump match for the Warriors to grab two crucial points and make it 4-1.
Blasters’ Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong then managed to beat Warriors’ men’s doubles pair of V Shem Goh and Markis Kido 6-11 11-9 11-6 in the last match of the tie, which was also the trump match for Bengaluru, only to grab 2 consolation points.