PBL: Delhi Dashers breeze past North Eastern Warriors to make semifinals

Hyderabad, January 10: Delhi Dashers thumped North Eastern Warriors 4-1 and secured a place in the semifinals of the Premier Badminton League in Hyderabad on Wednesday (January 10).

Tian Houwei led the Delhi charge by staging a brilliant recovery in his men's singles duel against Tzu Wei Wang, before winning 10-15, 15-8, 11-15.

The Chinese, ranked 22 in the world, was down 2-8 in the final game but bounced back to clinch it 15-11 and upset the World No 11.

Wang's defeat was a big blow for the Warriors as it was their Trump match which meant they ended up with a negative point. Interestingly, it was their first Trump loss of the season, having won all four earlier.

An absolute showman, isn't he? Wong Wing Ki Vincent's celebrations have been one of the highlights of the #VodafonePBL Season 3!#DELvNEW #SmashTheHouseDown pic.twitter.com/QHHYmDtFZz

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) January 10, 2018

Michelle Li and Shin Baek Cheol had provided a bright start to the Warriors winning their mixed doubles duel against the Delhi pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov in straight games 15-13, 15-11.

But Wing Ki Wong Vincent helped Delhi level the scores as he won the day's first men's singles against Ajay Jayaram 15-13, 10-15, 15-12.

That smash by Wong Wing Ki Vincent clocked at 4⃣0⃣0⃣kmph 🔥

Ajay Jayaram had no reply to that!#DELvNEW #VodafonePBL #SmashTheHouseDown pic.twitter.com/xwGZGVTQiy

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) January 10, 2018

The World No 15 started off well by clinching a tight first game 15-13 only to find the Indian stage a fightback in the second with a combination of deft placements and effective smashes. Ajay, ranked 38 in the World, went on to pocket the second game 15-12.

The third game was evenly poised at 8-7 in favour of the 27-year-old from Hong Kong and he went on to consolidate it by surging ahead to a 12-8 lead.

This was top quality defensive play from Delhi Dashers!#DELvNEW #VodafonePBL #SmashTheHouseDown pic.twitter.com/i3MOkr3nT0

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) January 10, 2018

Ajay was not finished yet as he collected four points in a row to reduce the margin to 13-12. But Wing Ki Wong capitalised on an unforced error from Ajay and won the third game and the match.

Wing Ki Wong was so delighted with his win that he pranced around the court and broke into a Usain Bolt-like celebration.

Accuracy & precision level over 9000, as Michelle Li could only just stand and stare.🎯#DELvNEW #VodafonePBL #SmashTheHouseDown pic.twitter.com/VSukZC4NVf

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) January 10, 2018

In the women's singles, Sung Ji Hyun edged past Michelle Li 13-15, 15-11, 15-13 to send Delhi 4-0 up and seals the semi-final berth.

The day's final match, the men's doubles, saw North Eastern Warriors' South Korean pair of Shin Baek Cheol and Kim Gi Jung beat Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov 9-15, 15-10, 15-9.