Lakshya Sen, Sugiarto shine as Chennai Superstarz march ahead

Chennai Superstarz secured an unbeatable 4-0 lead over Mumbai Rockets in a Premier Badminton League match on Wednesday. Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto stepped up after losing the first game to beat Paruppali Kashyap 14-15, 15-10, 15-7 in the trump match to seal a win for Superstarz with two more matches to be played. The talented young Lakshya Sen put the home team 2-0 up with a 15-12, 15-10 win over Lee Dong Keun after the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Jessica Pugh gave the lead by beating Kim Gi Jung and Pia Zebidiah 15-10, 15-14.

Sen had never met World No. 49 Lee Dong Keun before but that mattered little as World No. 30 was at the top of his game throughout the match against Mumbai's ace. The 18-year-old was made to work hard for his win in Chennai's first tie on Monday but he had an easier time today. In a solid display that showed his maturity and fearlessness in oodles, Sen produced a brilliant array of smashes to take the first game away from the Korean.