GUWAHATI, Dec 26 - Indian star Sourabh Verma and World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying put Ahmedabad Smash Masters ahead by winning the men�s and women�s singles in the third edition of the Premier Badminton League.
At the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Sarusajai here this evening, Sourabh settled down immediately after getting down in the business and won the match against Pratul Joshi of debutant North East Warriors 15-10, 15-7 in straight games.
Ying beat Michelle Li 15-6, 15-10.
In the opening game, Pratul put up some kind of challenge by covering the court at the beginning. But Sourabh showed his class and forced the NE player to make some unforced errors.
After trailing 0-1, Prajekta Sawant and Shin Baek-cheol (South Korea) of North East levelled the issue after defeating Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark and Lee Chun Hei Reginald of Hong Kong in the mixed doubles 15-13, 15-13. It was a thrilling encounter as in both the games the mixed pairs went neck to neck with attacks and counter-attacks.
The second game in particular was very close in the last stage as they were tied till 13-13.
World No. 1 Tzu-ying of Taiwan, after winning the opening game easily, had to face some stiff challenge in the second game. She was trailing at the initial stage but made comeback confidently to win her Trump Match.
