Pune 7 Aces face Awadhe Warriors in hunt for semi-final berth at PBL

Pune 7 Aces and the Awadhe Warriors will look to inch closer to the semifinal berth when the two teams clash in the fifth Premier Badminton League on Monday. Pune and Awadhe occupy the third and the fourth spots in the league table respectively with just a solitary point separating them and it will be a test of nerves when the two meet at the GMC Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium here. Both the teams lost their last ties in the second double header on Saturday. 

While Pune suffered a reversal of fortunes at the hands of North Eastern Warriors, the Lucknow-based franchise was narrowly edged by the Chennai Superstarz.  With a semi-final berth on the line, both the teams will be hungry to bounce back from the loss.  With the fifth-placed Bengaluru Raptors breathing down their necks, they would really be looking to separate themselves from the defending champions in their hunt for a coveted last-fourth berth.

Pune needs introspection as they were thoroughly demolished 0-5 by the North Eastern Warriors.  On a day when nothing went their way, only their talismanic men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Hendra Setiawan rose to the occasion to extend their unbeaten streak to four matches.  Being so close to the knock-out stages, Pune wouldn't want to squander this priceless opportunity and would need their mixed doubles pair of Chris and Gabrielle Adcock to fire along with the usually reliable Loh Kean Yew in men's singles.

Awadhe Warriors, on the other hand, has the advantage in women's singles being led by the World No. 14 Beiwen Zhang.  Their men's doubles pair of Ko Sung Hyun and Ivan Sozonov put up a gutsy show against Chennai's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Dhruv Kapila and the Warriors would bank on them to display their prowess again. Wong Wing Ki Vincent and Subhankar Dey's form would be crucial as the Warriors desperately seek to remain in contention. Chennai Superstarz and North Eastern Warriors are the only two teams who have already sealed their spots in the semi-finals.