After receiving a defeat against North Eastern Warriors, Mumbai Rockets had intended to bag a victory against Pune 7 Aces during their tie on December 29. However, the Aces started their home leg with a 4-3 win and registered their first victory of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) Season Four.
In a close encounter between the two, Pune bested Mumbai with co-joined efforts from Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Denmark’s Line Kjaersfedt – both of them bringing a couple of wins to get the PBL debutants to get their first ever win. Meanwhile, the Aces had donned a pink jersey for the cause of Breast Cancer Awareness.
Kjaersfeldt and the pair of Ivanov and Chirag Shetty gave Aces an aggressive start by winning the women’s singles and men’s doubles rubbers respectively. But the two-time champions refused to back down and displayed resilience to fight back through their two men’s singles specialists – Anders Antonsen and Sameer Verma – who sent the tie to a deciding fifth match.
The encounter between Mumbai and Pune could have gone anyway but it was the temperament and the ability to play under pressure that led the winner of the Maharashtra derby towards the win.
However, Ivanov and Kjaersfeldt managed to seal the decider for Pune as they best Mumbai’s highly-experienced mixed doubles pair of Pia Zebadiah and Kim Gi Jung 15-13, 11-15, 15-12.
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