PBL: Sameer Verma wins to put Mumbai Rockets ahead vs Delhi Dashers

Guwahati: Sameer Verma consolidated Mumbai Rockets's position with a straight-game win over Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Delhi Dashers in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), here on Monday. Sameer outplayed the Dashers's trump player Vincent 15-11, 15-11 to not only fetch the additional point for his team but also push the Delhi team into negative territory.

Ranked world No. 30, Sameer showed his mastery over the court, covering the angles well and toying with the higher-ranked Vincent. His cross-court jump smashes were particularly effective, fetching him points almost at will. 

The 23-year-old Indian star wrapped up the first game in less than 20 minutes and seemed on his way to another facile win. At 14-8, a few nerves surfaced and Vincent pulled back three points. But a perfect net drop gave Sameer a comfortable victory. 

Earlier, the South Korean-Malaysian duo of Lee Yong Dae &Tan Boon Heong drew on their vast experience to down the Russian pair of Ivan Sozonov & Vladimir Ivanov 14-15, 15-14, 15-10 in the opening men's doubles match.

In an intense battle between near-equals, Yong Dae and Boon Heong struggled against the towering 6-feet-6-inch presence of Ivanov. They failed to answer his booming smashes and lost the opening game 14-15. The duo got into their own in the next game, though. 

Despite falling behind midway through the game, they clawed back into the contest by tightening their defence.

Yong Dae was particularly impressive, covering the court well and killing the key points smartly. They enjoyed a couple of game points but Sozonov-Ivanov held on to make it 14-14. But they lost the next point to allow Mumbai Rockets an opportunity to assert themselves. 

The third game too was tight, with the lead exchanging hands until 5-5. That's when the Russian pair started making mistakes, repeatedly finding the net. Suddenly, they were down 5-8 and then 7-11. They tried to get back but it was too late.