HYDERABAD, Feb 4: The North Eastern Warriors edged the Chennai Superstarz 4-3 to grab the top spot in an exciting face-off between two of the most in-form teams at the Premier Badminton League at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium here in Hyderabad today. With both having qualified for the semifinals, it was the final league match for both as they looked to boost their confidence ahead of the knock-out stages.
With the two teams being tied on 22 points, North Eastern Warriors inched ahead by virtue of having 13 wins while Chennai has 10 wins against their name. For the Warriors, 2020 Indonesia Masters semifinalist Lee Cheul Yiu, Kaushal Dharmamer, and the mixed doubles pair of Lee Yong Dae and Kim Ha Na contributed the wins to take them to victory.
With the two locked at 3-3 in the overall score, it was left to the former Olympic champion Lee Yong Dae to do the needful for the North Eastern Warriors along with former World No. 1 Kim Ha Na. The two did not disappoint as they came back from 4-6 down in the first game to grab a 15-11, 15-9 win against Chennai�s Dhruv Kapila and PBL5 debutante Sanjana Santosh.
Earlier, the in-form Lee Cheuk Yiu won his third match in a row when he beat the youngest player of PBL5, S Sankar Muthusamy 15-8, 15-11. The 16-year-old did impress with his shotmaking skills but Lee�s experience and confidence proved too much for the teen, who definitely has a bright future ahead of him. Lee�s win being a Trump victory put the Warriors on course for a victory. Kaushal Dharmamer, winner of the Maldives International Challenge and the Myanmar International Series last year, ran away to a commanding 15-3, 15-11 win against Korea Junior Open semifinalist K Sathish Kumar to give a good start to the Guwahati-based franchise. � Agencies
