Mumbai Rockets dominate Delhi Dashers in PBL

MUMBAI: Sameer Verma continued with his impressive form as he upset Delhi Dashers star player HS Prannoy to lead Mumbai Rockets to a convincing win in their opening match of the Premier Badminton League at the NSCI Dome here on Sunday. Shreyanshi Pardeshi then turned Delhi Dashers trump on its head by upsetting Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia 12-15, 15-8, 15-10 to give the hosts a 5-0 win. It was a scintillating performance from the diminutive youngster against an opponent who is ranked 169 places above her in the world ranking. In the opening game, Shreyanshi struggled to tackle the height advantage of her Russian opponent and was mostly chasing the shuttle in rallies. But after losing the opening game, the world number 201 changed tactics by hitting her tosses slightly higher and then going for quick crosscourt drops.The stronger defence also helped Shreyanshi’s cause as she virtually raced through the next two games to not just give her team a valuable point but also bring Delhi Dashers tally down to zero. Earlier, Mumbai already took a 3-0 lead with Lee Yong Dae and Kim Gi Sung winning their trump match and Anders Antonsen excelling on his debut. (IANS)