Delhi Acers claim the Star Sports PBL Beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3

New Delhi, January 17, 2016: It was the Finals of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League 2016 and as was expected each match was as exciting as the next, leaving the spectators wanting for more. It was the Delhi Acers who played as per the plan ensuring that they not only won their Trump Match but stamp their name in two more matches which ensured them the Championship Title.

The winning team took home a cheque of Rs. 3 crores, the team in the second position got a cheque of Rs. 2 crore and the third & fourth positioned team took home a cheque of Rs. 75 lakhs each.

While the Champions, Delhi Acers picked up a beautiful Gold Trophy the runner-up team of the League, Mumbai Rockets took the Silver trophy. Besides this, each player from the winning team was awarded with a gold medal, while the players of Mumbai Rockets were given Silver medals.

The Mixed Doubles duo of both the teams made a big start to the Final of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League 2016. While the Acers fielded Akshay Dewalkar with Gabrielle Adcock, Mumbai Rockets stuck to their well tested duo -Vladimir Ivanov and Kamilla Juhl. It was the latter who spelled trouble for the hosts as they very convincingly took the first game 15-6 leaving the Acers much to think about in the break. The second game saw Delhi making a comeback as they dominated the first half of the second game but they lost the hold as the Rockets made a strong come back and stamped their first victory of the day taking the score to 1-0.

The first Men’s Singles match between Tommy Sugiarto of Delhi Acers and HS Prannoy of Mumbai Rockets proved to be a neck and neck first game. Both the players were giving a tough fight as they did not allow the other to get away with the game easily. Finally, it was HS Prannoy who stamped his name in the first game leaving the Acers shocked. Second game as was expected saw Tommy Sugiarto coming strong on HS Prannoy as former won it 15-9. The third game was the decider and yet again saw both the players adamant to take the game and the match. But Tommy proved to be stronger as he went on to ensure that the Tie leveled at 1-1.

The Men’s Doubles match was as invigorating as it always has been in the entire League. Koo Keat Kein alongwith Tan Boon Heaong were as good and as strong as Vladimir Ivanov and Mathias Boe. The first game was a see-saw and when it looked that the Acers will take the game away, the Rockets yet again proved that they have that fight back spirit and all the tactics to bounce back and which they did with elan. Following the game at 12-14 they not only leveled it at 14-14 but soon took the game away from the Acers. The second game belonged to the Acers as they this time did not lose hold and leveled the match by winning the game. This left the third game to decide the fate of the teams. A win from here meant the team would be placed more comfortably than the other in the Tie and the Final of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League 2016. The third game will be remembered for times to come as it got everyone on the edge of their seats as they saw Mumbai Rockets bravely making a comeback into the game. Trailing the game 11-14, they again lived up to teams expectations as they tied it at 14-14. But unfortunately for the Rockets the duo lost the last point and the match too. This gave Delhi Acers an edge over the scoreboard as it read 2-1.

It was the Trump Match for the Mumbai Rockets and shouldering the responsibility was Han Li to win it for her team.  While PC Thulasi made a slow start she gradually made a comeback and started dominating the proceedings. With each point scored she grew in confidence and much to the shock of Mumbai Rockets, PC Thulasi beat Han Li, taking the first game. Han Li fought her way back in the match as she won the second game convincingly 15-8. The third game too proved to be one sided affair as Han Li the game and the match. With this the score read 3-2 in favor of the Rockets.

This was the decider match for the Title tag of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League. It was even the Trump for Delhi Acers and playing for the team was Rajiv Ouesph who took the challenge of beating Gurusai Dutt. The first game witnessed Gurusai Dutt giving a tough challenge to Rajiv but eventually lost the game to the latter 15-11. Rajiv Ouseph looking at completing the game as soon as possible went into attack immediately. He took the game 15-06 and this marked Delhi Acers the Champions of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League. The final scores of the tie read 4-3 in the Acers name.

Speaking on the Finals, Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, President BAI & Chairman PBL said “I Congratulate Delhi Acers for this victory and the Title tag of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League. What a game of badminton it was today and each match proved that the players are playing for the finals and how desperate they were, to stamp their name on the victory card. I would even like to thank Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh for entertaining the crowd by playing a game of badminton. ”

After winning the first match, Kamilla Juhl/Vladimir Ivanov said “The first win is a very good start for the team. This is a big match for us and we don't want give any room to the opponents. We started with aggressive strategies and pushed ourselves hard to win the first match for our team.”

After winning the Men's Singles match, Tommy Sugiarto stated “It was a tough match as it is the Final Tie of the League, so it’s quite expected that it will not be an easy match. Prannoy played very well today and gave me good competition. Losing the first match was a setback but I came back with better game plans. Happy to win the match, it's a big boost to my team.”

After winning the Men's Doubles match, Koo Keat Kien and Tan Boon Heaong commented “It was an unbelievable match. We all held our nerves till the last moment. We stepped on to the court with confidence to win the match and had some game-plans for it. Though we lost the first game, the second game turned into a big motivation for us. We gave everything in the third game and eventually managed to out-fox the opponents.”

After winning the Women's Singles match, Han Li said “A good win for me and the team. Thulasi is talented and she surprised me in the first game. But I came back strongly in the second with some innovative ideas to counter her, which worked perfectly well. The third game went smoothly and eventually I won the match with a good margin.”

Speaking post winning the match and the Title of the Star Sports Premier Badminton League, Rajiv Ouesph commented “The team was confident of a win today and luckily we all played brilliantly. We as a team have stood together and this I think helped us win the Star Sports Premier Badminton League.”

The match tally was as follows:

Delhi Acers bt Mumbai Rockets: 4-3 (points)

Fastest Smash of the Tournament (Male) - Vladmir Ivanov (MR) 450 KMPH
Fastest Smash of the Tournament (Female) - Saina Nehwal (AW) 361 KMPH
Longest Rally of the Tournament - Koo Keat Kien/Tan Boon Heaong (DA) 91 shots

Most Vibrant Team: Delhi Acers
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament - Tommy Sugiarto - Male (DA)

Most Valuable Player of the Tournament - SV Sindhu - Female (CS)