Tie: Bengaluru Blasters v Chennai Smashers
Date: 3January, Tuesday
Time: 9:30pm SGT/7pm IST/1:30pm GMT
Competition: Premier Badminton League, 2017
Venue: Sardar Vallabhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai
TV Channel: There is no live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live streaming: Hotstar
Live updates of the matches will be available here.
Overview
Bengaluru Blasters made the right start to their campaign when they overcame defending champions Delhi Acers 4-3 in their tournament-opening tie on Sunday.
World number three Viktor Axelsen will be looking to make a comeback following his loss in the first tie against compatriot, world number two Jan O Jorgensen. The latter defeated the BWF World Superseries winner in 11-9, 11-9 in an evenly-contested match.
Hong Kong shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi is also looking in good touch after beating Delhi's Tanvi Lad to seal the tie on Sunday. Bengaluru also have a solid Mixed doubles pair Ko Sung-Hyun and Sikki Reddy, who are fresh from their opening tie success against Delhi's Jwalla Gutta and Vladimir Ivanov. Also, Sourabh Verma would want to prove himself after losing a tough tie against top-ranked South Korean shuttler Son Wan Ho.
On the other hand, Chennai Smashers were undone by Carolina Marin's Hyderabad Hunters in their opening tie. The Spaniard herself led the show by defeating Smashers' marquee player PV Sindhu, in what was labelled as Rio Olympic Women's singles final rematch.
Sindhu will quickly want to get back on track following her first PBL defeat and Ngan Yi will most probably be her victim unless the latter comes up with something special.
Chennai will have to figure out who among Parupalli Kashyap, Tomy Sugiarto and Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk will face Axelsen in the one of the two Men's singles match on Tuesday. Smashers' mixed doubles pairing of Chris and Gabrielle Addock will also look to secure a point for the team.
Chennai look solid on paper but it is up to them to overcome the opening day defeat and give themselves a chance to stop Bengaluru from winning their second successive tie.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports
Team News
Bengaluru
Squad: Viktor Axelsen, Yoo Yeon Seong, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, Boonsak Ponsana, Ruthvika Gadde, Sourabh Verma, Pranaav Chopra, Ko Sung Hyun, Sikki Reddy
Chennai
Squad: P V Sindhu, Tommy Sugiarto, Gabby Adcock, Tanongsak S, P Kashyap, Chris Adcock, Mads Pieler Kolding, B Sumeeth Reddy, Ramya Tulasi, Arundhati Pantawane
