Bangalore post face-saving win; Hotshots to play Pune in semis

The bottom-placed Banga Beats came from behind to post a 3-2 face-saving victory over Hyderabad Hotshots, who set-up a clash against Pune Pistons in the semifinals of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) here.
Having won three out of five ties and losing just two, Hyderabad finished the league stage at the top of the table with 17 points in their kitty.
While Saina Nehwal-inspired Hyderabad Hotshots take an early 2-0 lead last night and reach the top of the points table, the Banga Beats managed to have the last laugh here at the Gachibowli stadium.
The Bangalore outfit, however, failed to make the cut and remained at the bottom of the table with 13 points that came from two wins and three losses.

While Hyderabad and Pune will play each other later tonight here, the other two semifinals -- Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Masters -- will clash tomorrow in Bangalore.
Hyderabad's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk gave the hosts a cracking start last night by staving off the challenge of India's top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap 21-20 21-18 before Saina registered a hard-fought 21-17 14-21 11-8 victory over Ying Tai Tzu to give an initial advantage to the team.

But Banga Beats men's doubles pair of Carston Mogensen and Akshay Dewalkar showed a lot of character to came from a game down to prevail 15-21 21-15 11-1 over V Shem Goh and Wah Lim Khim.

That set the rhythm for the Banga Beats to go for the kill and Jan O Jorgensen simply outplayed Ajay Jayaram 21-11 21-8, before mixed doubles combo of Carston Mogensen and Aparna Balan beat the Bangalore pair of Pradnya Gadre and Tarun Kona 18-21 21-16 11-9.
Speaking on the semifinal against Pune, Saina said, "I am very excited to play the semifinals as it will be the first time for me to play in team championship and I am sure my team will give its best.