IBL: Warriors beat Masters 3-2 in second semis

Bangalore:  It was a close tie between Mumbai and Lucknow today with players giving fierce fight to each other to claim their position in the finals. But the Awadhe Warriors were a determined lot and did not lose ground. The 3-2 win took them to the finals at Mumbai where they will fight against Hyderabad Hotshots for the first ever Vodafone IBL Trophy.

Speaking post consecutively winning the Men’s second Single and Mixed Doubles leading to Team entry in the finals, Vladimir Ivanov said, “It was a close match and Srikanth gave a good fight. I am happy to have won the matches for the team. I am looking forward to the finals now.”

Markis Kido, the Vodafone Player of the Tie and winner of both Men’s and Mixed Doubles said, “I and my sister are thrilled to win this match. First game was very close and we had to play some soft shots to win points in the second game. Both of us are ready to give a strong fight to Hyderabad Hotshots in the finals. My earlier match alongwith Mathias Boe was also very exciting. We had very good understanding which helped give us a lead.”

Winning the Men’s Singles Lee Chong Wei said, “Over the last three days I only ate, slept and practiced hard. I have played against Guru a lot of times in international events and have commended his game. Today was clearly not one of his best performances. The shuttle speed was also much better which helped me win the match in 2 sets.” He was later disappointed at his team losing the Tie.

Elated at winning the Women’s Single against Tine Baun, P V Sindhu said, “When Tine is your opponent, you cannot take any game easy. She gave a good fight from the first game itself.

Finally when I was leading by 4-5 points in the second set, I could relax a bit and won the match.” Post winning the Mixed Doubles against Mumbai Masters Mathias Boe said, “As a strategy Kido decided to stay near the net and I was on the back line. This was the first time I and Kido were playing together but we had lot of coordination between us. Whenever there was a problem, both of us discussed during the interval and solved it. The partnership was very comfortable and I hope to play the finals at Mumbai.

The match tally was as follows: