Ahmedabad Smash Masters started their Premier Badminton League on a winning note as they beat North Eastern Warriors 4-2 in Mumbai on Sunday night.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy justified his tag as the highest paid non-icon Indian player of this season as he along with Lee Chun Hei Reginald upset North Eastern Warriors’ game plan by upsetting their trump pair in the first match of the tie.
Satwik, who was bought by Ahmedabad Smash Masters for Rs 52 lakh, and Lee struggled to find their rhythm at the start as the experienced combination of Liao Min Chun and Yoo Yeon Seong controlled the proceedings.
But Satwik and partners came back strong in the second, taking a 8-4, 13-9 lead before Seong and Liao took five straight points to earn a match point. But Liao made an error on the net to take the game into ‘decisive point’. Satwik-Lee pair, then, took the match into the decider.
In the ensuing decider, Satwik turned on the heat with his booming smashes to take the game rather easily and register a 10-15, 15-14, 15-14 as Ahmedabad Smash Masters opened up a 1-(-1) lead.
Former world champion Viktor Axelsen then gave the Ahmedabad team an unassailable lead of 3-(-1) when he defeated Tanongsak Sansomboonsuk 15-11, 15-14 in which he was the trump.
Rituparna Das beat Kirsty Gilmour in straight games and Tian Houwei downed Daren Liew in three games.
Satwik and N Sikki Reddy then won their mixed doubles encounter against Yoo Yeon Seong and Kim Ha Na to help Smash Masters win 4-1.