Press Trust of India
Bangalore, Jan 13: Rajiv Ouseph won the ‘trump’ match as Delhi Acers pulled off a 4-1 win against Mumbai Rockets in a PBL tie played at Indoor Kanteerava Stadium here Wednesday.
With the win, Delhi became the table-toppers with 20 points ahead of Awadhe Warriors, who are on 17 points. Both teams have qualified for the semifinals.
Mumbai, however, will be banking on the outcome of the tie between Bangalore Top Guns and Chennai Smashers. If Bangalore fail to get five points, Mumbai will qualify for the semifinals.
Rajiv beat his rival RMV Gurusaidutt comfortably 15-7, 15-10 in the fifth match of the tie. PC Thulasi on the other hand denied the ‘trump’ match victory for Mumbai’s Ruthvika Gade as the tie helped Delhi to bounce back after their mixed doubles pair Akshay Dewalkar and Aparna Balan lost to Kamilla Juhl and Vladimir Ivanov 13-15, 11-15.
Thulasi, in an exciting encounter, beat Ruthvika 15-11, 8-15, and 15-13. “This was the confidence- booster win for our team. It was a trump match for Mumbai and after winning the first set I lost focus in the second and paid the price. Luckily I held my nerves in the third and managed to win a vital point for our team,” she said.
After losing the trump match, it was left to HS Prannoy to bring Mumbai back into the tie, but he failed to live up to the expectations of the team management. Prannoy lost 8-15, 6-15 to Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto in a one-sided encounter.