After Delhi Dashers beat North Eastern Warriors 4-1, securing a semifinal spot as the Hyderabad-leg of the third Premier Badminton League got off to an exciting start. Tian Houwei led the Delhi charge by staging a brilliant recovery in his mens 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 No11. 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.

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 Wong Wing Ki Vincent helped Delhi level the scores as he won the days first mens singles against Ajay Jayaram 15- 13, 10-15, 15-12.

The World No15 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.

Results: Mixed doubles: M Li/ SB Cheol bt V Ivanov/A Ponnappa 15-13, 15-11. 

Men’s singles: WWK Vincent bt A Jayaram 15-13, 10-15, 15-12; T Houwei bt WT Wei (T) 15-10, 8-15, 15-11.

Women: SJ Hyun (T) bt M Li 13-15, 15-11, 15-13.

Men’s doubles: V Ivanov/I Sozonov lost to SB Cheol/KG Jung 15-9, 10-15, 9-15. Delhi Dashers bt North Eastern Warriors 4-1 (T denotes trump tie).