Chennai Smashers displayed yet another stellar performance to beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3 and qualify for the semi-finals of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. With this win, Mumbai moved to the third spot of the standings with 14 points from four games. Mumbai, who already have reached the semi-finals, remained atop with 19 points from five games.
H.S Prannoy of Mumbai continued his stellar form as he beat his compatriot Parupalli Kashyap 11-9, 13-11 to give his team a flying start.
But Chennai hit back by winning their 'Trump Match' as Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock overcame Chirag Shetty and Nadiezda Zeiba 9-11, 11-2, 11-7. In the third match, Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto of Chennai made it 3-1 after moving past Ajay Jayaram 8-11, 11-2, 11-5.
Olympic 2016 silver medallist P.V Sindhu stave off a strong challenge from South Korean Sung Ji Hyun 11-8, 12-10 to seal the tie for Chennai.
In the last match of the day, Mumbai, having already lost the tie, managed to reduce the difference to one after the men's doubles pair of Lee Yong Dae and Nipitphon Puangpuapech won their 'Trump Match' over Chris and Mads Pieler Kolding 11-3, 11-5.
