On January 5, Saturday, Mumbai Rockets qualified for semi-finals after their victory against Chennai Smashers in the Fourth Season of Premier Badminton League (PBL). Mumbai achieved a 5-0 victory as they dominated the tie from the start. The Rockets won the first two matches through Anders Antonsen and their mixed doubles pair of Pia Bernadeth and Kim Gi Jung.
Later, Sung Ji Hyun managed to win the first match for Chennai Smashers before Sameer Verma swept a victory to win the tie for Mumbai Rockets.
The biggest match of the evening, Verma vs Parupalli Kashyap, was the talking point of the day. While Mumbai looked forward to Verma to win the fixture, Kashyap gave him a fine run for the victory before he lost to the in-form Rockets player. He struggled against Kashyap initially due to his footwork and precise placement and lost the first match to him. But later, he took control of the match and defeated Kashyap to manage a 12-15 15-13, 15-9 win.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai’s World No. 18 Anders Antonsen managed to confidently humble the 34th ranked Rajiv Ouseph through their encounter. Antonsen managed a close win in the first match but easily won the second win against Ouseph. The match ended with a 15-14, 15-11 win for Anders Antonsen.
However, the mixed doubles rubber was an enthralling encounter as Chennai’s World No. 9 pair of Chris and Gabby Adcock’s two-match winning streak was concluded by the Mumbai duo of Pia Bernadeth and Kim Gi Jung with a 15-14, 15-14 win.
On the other hand, Chennai managed to win one game against Mumbai Rockets as Sung Ji Hyun brought down Anura Prabhudesai with a rather easy 15-7, 15-8 win. But the win was overshadowed by the Rockets’ 15-8, 15-10 win in the men’s doubles tie as Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae commanded a win over Chennai’s Or Chin Chung and Sumeeth Reddy.
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