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Mumbai Rockets to face Bengaluru Raptors in the final of Vodafone PBL4 Defending champions Hyderabad Hunters bow out Grand finale in Bengaluru on Sunday

IT News
Bengaluru, Jan 13,

Mumbai Rockets ended the title defence of the Hyderabad Hunters to set up a summit clash with the Bengaluru Raptors at the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, here on Saturday. Mumbai Trump Sameer Verma played a brilliant match before Anders Antonsen finished off what was a dominant 4-2 win for the two-time runners-up.
Mumbai will hope to be third time lucky after losses to the Delhi Acers and the Chennai Smashers in the first two seasons.
The Rockets looked the better of the two teams for most part of the tie, racing ahead to 4-0 before PV Sindhu could finally open the Hunters’ account. It was only a matter of time before Mumbai wrapped it up.
The superb Sameer wasn’t bothered by the fact that he had lost his last BWF showdown to World No. 35 Mark Caljouw. Asserting his supremacy right from the start, the Mumbai shuttler raced ahead to 8-2 before the Dutchman could not even settle into the match. Staying very calm, Verma grabbed the first game 15-8.

Sameer smartly blunted Caljouw’s aggression even in the second game to move ahead to 8-2. Using his deception to perfection, Verma wrapped it up 15-8, 15-7.
Hyderabad’s Lee Hyun Il was able to stave off a resilient Anders Antonsen to go up to 8-6 in the fourth rubber. Despite Lee going up to 13-11, the young Dane looked unfazed and steadily fought back to take the opener 15-13.
Antonsen didn’t have to work as hard in the one-sided second game. He held control of the proceedings throughout the game, building an 11-6 advantage before finishing off a 15-13, 15-6 victory that sealed the tie.
World No. 3 PV Sindhu was the lone bright spot for Hyderabad. She was always a tall order for the 202nd ranked Shreyanshi Pardeshi of the Mumbai Rockets. Even though Sindhu did secure a 15-6, 15-5 win, the rising star did have her moments. Her netgame did trouble the lanky Sindhu to a certain extent in the first game and she managed to trail her highly accomplished opponent by just one point at 7-8.
However, once Sindhu upped the intensity in her attack, it became an uphill task for Pardeshi. Overhitting under pressure didn’t help her cause at all as Sindhu opened up a 7-0 lead in the second game. It was all too one-sided after that as Sindhu cantered to an easy win.
Earlier, Lee Yong Dae and Kim Gi Jung gave Mumbai a dream start with a 15-14, 15-12 win over Hyderabad’s Bodin Isara and Kim Sa-Rang. While the first game remained highly competitive, the second game was in the grip of the Hyderabad duo for a long time.
Bodin and Kim led till 8-5 in Game 2 but could not prevent the Mumbai duo from making a strong comeback to go up to 13-11 before they closed out the win.

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Open letter to the The Government of India & he People of India

Against the Citizenship Bill Act 2016

“It is a very unfortunate, condemnable and illogical acts of BJP led government and supporters that let Citizenship Bill which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from other countries from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan passed on Tuesday, the 8th January 2019 by the Lok Sabha.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 is contemptible as it bypass the democratic ideals of India. Introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh, its primary objective is to amend the current Citizenship Act 1955 to provide for the acquisition and determination of Indian citizenship for a certain category of illegal immigrants and not for the benefits of any citizens of NE and rest of India. Additionally, this bill relaxes the citizenship criteria for such immigrants and merges the categories of Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) together. This Bill cannot be acceptable to people of the Region.
When Mr. Modi, Prime Minister of India said that “I want to assure the people of Assam and North East that their rights will not be hurt after passage of the Citizenship Bill”. What Rights of the People is he talking about, when we are treated unjustly and undemocratically.
Apart from the Citizens issues worrying for other’s countries please look into the problems faced by people of the region. NE has many major issues to be discussed and solve at the earliest. Some may point out like, AFSPA, Law and Order, Internal Territorial State, Undemocratic Political issues, Immigrants / Refugees problems, Revolutionary issues, Educational drawback issues etc.   Please bring solutions to these problems. Stop giving burden to the NE people by passing such illogical bill against the people of NE.
North East is a small region which comprises of seven sisters and one brother states namely as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim respectively. It is approximately an area of 262,230 square kilometres which is almost 8 percent only of that of India. North East India so different from the rest of India. Nothing is common other than being Indian. Precisely the food intake, life-style, cultures and traditions, environmental and geographical factors etc... This bill will affect the indigenous people of this region and threats to the identity and cultures prevailing in North East. The immigrants / refugees in NE will soon rise in its peak and turn into a citizen.  NE was never part of India or any Indian kingdoms before the British came and conquered unfortunately. In fact, NE should be protected & safeguarded from the rest of the country with prior to the Indigenous and uniqueness of the region.
Even after India became an independent country on 15th August, 1947, 72nd years of Independent, India have failed to recognised and established for the wellbeing to the people of the Region. We are living in a broken democracy with untruth leaders. If India cannot feel our sentiments and keep on doing such injustice to the people of the Region, I belief one day India will have to face the consequences of all the deeds done to this Region.”

Yours sincerely,
Chongtham Thangamba Meetei,
Teacher of St. John Higher Secondary School, Shillong cum
Advisor of the Shillong Manipuri Students’ Union, Shillong
Shillong, Meghalaya
9856600442
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Haryana and Railways pugilists share six gold as Punjab earn two in 3rdNational Women’s Boxing

Vijayanagara, Jan. 7

Most of the fancied finalists, sans world championships quarterfinalist Manisha Moun, kept their date with destiny to win gold at the JSW Sports 3rd Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships which concluded Inspire Institute of Sport here yesterday.
Only upset in the Championship was the Haryana boxer, failed to show the kind of form she displayed against World bronze medallist Christina Cruz and Dina Zholaman on the world stage at New Delhi in November and had to settle for a silver medal when she went down to Meenakumari Devi of All India Police in 54 kg class.
In a way this must have upset the calculations of Haryana boxers as two others—Shashi Chopra (57 kg) and Nupur (75)—lost their bouts to join Manisha and had to be contended with three gold medals through the reliable Pinki Rani Jangra (51), Neeraj (60) and Pooja Rani (81), despite six of their boxers had entered the finals.
This meant both Haryana and the Railways shared six out of 10 gold medals on offer on the final day with Sonia Lather (57), Neetu (75) and Seema Poonia (+81) as the three RSPB pugilists reached the top place on the podium. Punjab earned two through Manju Rani (48) and Simranjit Kaur while the other gold in 69 kg went to World Championships medalist,  Lovlina Borgohain of Assam. Manju Rani had no difficulty as she stopped the march of Tamil Nadu’s S. Kalaivani with a split (4:1) verdict in the final as the Punjab boxer packed more than a few punches to stagger her rival. At the end of first two rounds it had become clear who the winner would be. But some last minute flurries from Kalavani and a few blows in the first round must have earned that crucial solitary point in her favour.
In Fly weight category, Pinki Rani was the favourite for the gold but the way she began it aroused doubts as her Telangana opponent Nikhat Zareen took the initiative and opened with few lefts and sent down some combination punches. Pinki, as she was surprised with the surge, steadied herself with good counters. But there was no let up from Nikhat who continued to trade blows but in the final analysis, Pinki landed more punches on target areas which gave the judges verdict 3:2 in her favour.
There were two other bouts in middleweight (75 kg) and heavy (+81) which attracted the attention of spectators as Railways’ Neetu defeated Haryana’s Nupur and Seema Poonia, who scrapped through against Kavita Chahal of AIP, getting 3:2 decision.
 The split verdicts were expected because both Neetu and Seema were passive to begin with before upping the ante towards the close of second and third rounds even as they kept their opponents—Nupur and Kavita—engaged even while the eventual silver medal winners did make serious attempts with good number exchanges of counters.
Experienced pugilist, Sonia Lather did not have to go full blast against Shashi, who looked somewhat subdued and failed to produce the form of her semifinal bout and went down tamely as the Railways pugilist won 5:0. Others who won their bouts on points (5:0) included Neeraj of Haryana, who beat Preeti Beniwal of AIP, Simranjit Kaur, the silver medal winner at the worlds, from Punjab—she beat Pwilao Basumatary of AIP and Lovlina Borgohain, also a medal winner at the New Delhi worlds, beat Railways Pooja without having to sweat it out much.

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Haryana and Railway pugilists dominate quarter final show at the National Boxing Championships

Vijayanagara, Jan. 5

As many as nine pugilists from Haryana stormed into the semifinals, ensuring themselves medals at the JSW Sports presents 3rd Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships at the Inspire Institute of Sport here yesterday.
They were closely followed by the Railways as eight of their boxers made it to the medal round while All India Police (AIP), had seven of their players with Chandigarh and Punjab, having two pugilists each entering the semifinals in all the 10 categories with other state players just filling the vacant slots.
 All top boxers, including world championships participants and medalists—Lovlina Borgohain, Pinki Rani Jangra, Simranjit Kaur, Manisha Moun, Seema Poonia—all won their bouts, mostly with RSC verdicts as there were 13 of the contests in the two rings were stopped by the referee, fearing injury to the opponents of these fancied boxers.
But in the opening bout of the day on Ring 1, S. Kalaivani of Tamil Nadu surprised AIP’s K. Bina Devi in 48 kg, receiving a 4:1 verdict in her favour to take on Haryana’s Sanju, who beat Anchu Sabu of Kerala on points (5:0). In fact, it was Sanju who paved the way for her state mates to follow suit, showing excellent temperament and maturity In between, Rajni Singh of Uttar Pradesh, in a close bout, won a split verdict (3:2) against Swasti Arya of Rajasthan to send her packing. Later on experienced Pinki Rani pounded Chandigarh’s Gargi to win 5:0 in 51kg and other Haryana boxers that moved up included World Championship quarter finalist, Manisha Moun (54), Neeraj (60), Nisha (69) Nupur (75), Pooja Rani (81) and Anupama (+81).
Not to be outdone, the Railway boxers, too, had their place under the sun, entering the medal rounds convincingly. The process began with Pooja Tokas in 48 kg and it was carried on by Meenakshi (51), Siksha (54), Sonia Lather (57), Pwilao Basumatry (64), Pooja (69), Neetu (75), Bhagbati Kachari (81) and Seema Poonia (+81).
While much anticipation was there from World Championship Bronze Medalist, Lovilina Bogohain; she won a close bout against Delhi’s Anjali (3:2), thanks to the latter who produced some breathtaking combination punches to keep her better known rival at bay as the world championship bronze medal winner would have found it to her chagrin. In fact, the second round entirely belonged to the Delhi pugilist who failed to make any impression in the first but continued really well in the third as well. However, what worked in favour of the Assamese boxer was her first-round blows, particularly the lefts and a few straights which she was able to land on Anjali.
Even AIP’s E. Meemthoi Devi struggled against a determined Sohini from Chandigarh before overcoming her, especially in the third round, to win a 3:2 decision in her favour. Aveet Kaur of Chandigarh did herself a good turn with a nice come back in the third round to win another split verdict in her favour against Manu Badhan of Punjab. The Punjab pugilist was good in patches and that must have been her undoing.
Kavita Chahal of AIP in +82 kg category, beat the stuffing out of her Kerala rival Anaswara P.M. to win on points (5:0) while Basanti Chanu (64), Sandhyarani Devi (57) and Preeti Beniwal (60), Nikhat Zareen (51kg) too made the medal grade. 

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Srikanth, Sai Praneeth guide Raptors to victory as Ahmedabad leg starts from today at Vodafone PBL4

Srikanth, Sai Praneeth guide Raptors to victory as Ahmedabad leg starts from today at Vodafone PBL4

From Correspondent
Ahmedabad, Jan 4

 Bengaluru Raptors rode on skipper Kidambi Srikanth and B. Sai Praneeth’s winning efforts to beat former champions Delhi Dashers 3-1 at the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 at The Arena by SE TransStadia, here on Wednesday.
This was the Raptors’ second consecutive victory at the league. With this, Srikanth continues his unbeaten streak this season, having won all three of his matches so far.
The teams opted to have their Trump matches up first. Sai Praneeth’s cancellation of Delhi’s Trump HS Prannoy was followed by the Raptors losing their own mixed doubles Trump. Srikanth then took the court to get a three-game win before Vu Thi Trang completed the job for Team Bengaluru.
In the first rubber of the game, Bengaluru’s Sai Praneeth met his Pullela Gopichand Academy training partner HS Prannoy, who represented the Delhi franchise. When the match started, it was evident that Prannoy, already hobbled by a right knee injury, wasn’t at his best. Facing breathing issues, the Indian national champion had a hard time stringing together points. Sai showed beautiful control of the shuttle to build a 6-2 lead.
It was only after the mid-game break that Prannoy started showing signs of resurgence and drew level at 10-10 before Praneeth dashed his hopes with a 15-12 scoreline.
Having gone down 8-10 in the second game, Prannoy found a second gear to explode to 13-10. With the score tied at 14-14, a struggling Prannoy found a wondrous drop shot to take the second game.
Sai cut down on his errors to take an 8-6 lead in the decider and extended it to 12-8 with a superb round-the-head shot, and finally slammed shut the match 15-12, 14-15, 15-13.
Bengaluru Raptors began their mixed doubles on a grand note, racing away to 5-0 through Commonwealth Games silver medallists Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith. But a spirited fightback from Delhi’s Maneepong Jongjit and Evgeniya Kosetskaya saw the latter snatching the game 15-13. Agile as ever, the Thai shuttler simply kept oozing brilliance and carried the Dashers to 12-9 before adding the next three points as well to take the 15-13, 15-9 win.
Riding on his jump smashes, Bengaluru captain Kidambi Srikanth went ahead to 6-2 against Delhi’s Tommy Sugiarto. Looking fully in control of the play, he was relentless as he kept the scoreboard ticking to move up to 12-6, and then grabbed the one-sided opener 15-6.
The Indonesian showed real character to force an 8-3 turnaround in the next game. Srikanth went on a lull to allow Sugiarto to build a 13-8 advantage. A brief spark from the Indian couldn’t stop Sugiarto who pocketed the game.
The former World No. 1, however, managed to rebound strongly in the deciding game. Varying his shots, the aggressive Srikanth quickly went up to 8-4 as his opponent started looking more and more clueless.
It was just a matter of time before the Raptors man wrapped up the rubber with a 15-6, 12-15, 15-10 victory.
Delhi Dashers erased that setback soon through their women’s singles exponent Chia Hsin Lee. She opened the rubber with a strong play to get the first game 15-12.
However, having never met Bengaluru’s Vu Thi Trang on the international circuit, she simply wasn’t prepared for the fightback. The Bengaluru player absolutely toyed with her to grab the second game 15-3 in some smashing display.
Vu refused to give up in the decider despite Chia keeping it competitive till 6-6. Vu is ranked 59th and is placed 18 spots below Chia. That did not matter at all as a determined Vu kept cruising to add seven of the next nine points to fetch the tie win for Bengaluru.
However Delhi’s men’s doubles pait of C.Biao and M Jongjit ensured that established pair of M.Ahsan and H.Setiawan were stunned as they won lone team for the point and registed the only win of the night with a scoreline of 15-7;11-15; 15-14.
The Ahmedabad leg will continue till January 6 before the league moves on to Bengaluru for the final proceeding of Vodafone PBL Season 4.

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Punjab boxers dominate Day 2 of 3rd Elite Women’s Boxing Championship  Karnataka’s Bhagya put up a scintillating fight; Babita Bisht of Uttrakhand stole the show with a thunderous victory

Punjab boxers dominate Day 2 of 3rd Elite Women’s Boxing Championship  Karnataka’s Bhagya put up a scintillating fight; Babita Bisht of Uttrakhand stole the show with a thunderous victory

From a Correspondent
Vijayanagara, Jan 2,

The New Year started on a great note for the young boxers from Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab as they swept away majority of the wins on the second day of the JSW Sports presents 3rd Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) yesterday.
The day began with a dominating performance by Delhi’s Riya Tokas in the 54kg category as she landed a flurry of punches in the first round against her opponent, V.Vinodhini from Tamil Nadu. Riya continued her attacking approach in the next two rounds and registered a unanimous 5-0 victory. She next faces World Championship quarter-finalist, Manisha Moun in the next round.
Sohini from Chandigarh was in sublime form getting the better of Sai Sree Reddy from Telangana in the 69 kg category. She went on the offensive right from the start and landed some mighty blows, only for the referee to stop the bout in the first round.  The closest bout of the day was fought between Babita Bisht of Uttarakhand and Suman Khoda of Rajasthan in the 69kg category. Both the boxers kept the audience engaged as they traded some strong blows right from the start. It was an even contest till the dying seconds and only in the last one minute of the third round the bout turned in the favour of Babita. The Uttarakhand pugilist avoided a lot of punches with her sound defence and launched a string of clear punches to eventually win the match with a 3-2 verdict. 
In the 60 kg category, Karnataka girl Bhavya gave some reason to the local crowd to cheer as she displayed some fine technical skills and won the bout convincingly by 4-1 against Som Maya Subba of Sikkim. In the Bantamweight category, Riya Chouhan of Punjab started her game against Poulomi Sarkar from Bengal. Though she started the contest with caution in the first round, went all guns blazing in the second round only to be stopped by the referee.
Himachal’s Pradesh’s Sandhya won her bout against Sonal Rasal in the 64 kg category. Sandhya used her technical superiority and played a waiting game before going on offensive in the last and final round and finishing off the bout in her favour. Sandhya will be up against World Championship Bronze Medalist Simranjit Kaur tomorrow.
In the Welter Weight category, Gagandeep Kaur of Punjab rounded off a great day for her State by winning against Simran Mendon of Maharashtra, 5-0. She played all the three rounds at a consistent pace and with her immaculate defensive abilities, never letting her opponent get a sniff of her. 
Day two witnessed 18 RSC results with 32 bouts being played out. The third day of the championships will witness the international stars in action with the likes of Nikhat Zarin, Piny Jangra, Simranjit Kaur, Sonia Lather and Shashi Chopra battling it out for the top honours.

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Tanongsak, Rituparna Das guides North Eastern Warriors to their first win in Vodafone PBL4

Our Correspondent
Hyderabad, Dec 28

Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk showed nerves of steel to get the better of Mumbai Rockets trump, Anders Antonsen, in three games to help North Eastern Warriors their first win in the fourth edition of Vodafone Premier Badminton League at the Gachibowli stadium here on Thursday.
The North Eastern Warriors, who had lost their opening tie against Ahmedabad Smash Masters 1-4, needed a win to get their campaign on track and it was the mixed doubles combination of Liao Min Chun and Kim Ha Na which got them rolling.
Liao and Kim gave little opportunity to Kim Gi Jung and Pia Zebadiah of putting up a fight with a perfect game plan to win 15-6, 15-13.
This meant that a lot depended on whether Tanongsak could upset Rockets’ trump to put his team on the road to victory. The Thailand shuttler began strong and used his smash-tap routine to great effect against Antonsen to clinch the opening game. However, the Dane changed tactics in the second and engaged his opponent in longer rallies and forced the left-handed Tanongsak into committing unforced errors and force a decider.
Antonsen looked more comfortable in the first half of the third game and changed ends with a one-point advantage. But this is when Tanongsak managed to change gear and found a way to break the Dane’s defence to win 15-9, 10-15, 15-11.
Former national champion Rituparna Das then wrapped up the tie for North Eastern Warriors but not before Shreyanshi Pardeshi giving her a scare.
Das, who had upset Kristy Gilmour in their earlier encounter, was listed as the team trump and knew that she had to clinch the match to end any chance of a Rockets fightback.
Though she started strong, Pardeshi fought back well, chasing every shuttle and forcing Das to go for some expansive shots to find a winner and pocketed the opening game.
But the experience of Das made the difference from the second game onward, as the 22-year-old used her supple wrists and better understanding of the conditions to win the match 12-15, 15-10, 15-12 and give her team an unassailable 4-(-1) lead in the tie.

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North Eastern Warriors seek to turnaround their PBL fortunes; Warriors have the firepower to counter Mumbai Rockets surge in Season 4

By a Correspondent
Hyderabad, Dec 27,

 The North Eastern Warriors will look for a turnaround to their fortunes when skipper Saina Nehwal takes to the court for the first time in the 4th Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) against Mumbai Rockets, the No. 2 team on the leaderboard with five points, here tomorrow.
With a close 2-3 win-loss record out of the five ties in their last fixture, the Warriors, led by India’s first woman to win an Olympic bronze Saina Nehwal, will be looking to unleash their firepower when they take on the Mumbai Rockets. If she provides the start that NEW wants, it will be a great inspiration to the players following her.
“It wasn’t the start that we were expecting, but we drew satisfaction from the success of Rituparna when she beat Kirsty Gilmore, a top 50 ranked player and Tian backing with a brilliant game. We are confident of a fresh start as the team has regrouped and we aim to have the first win tomorrow,” said a confident Saina. On personal count, she added: “I had not played the last match, but I am practising and moving well on the court, so will do whatever is best possible for the team’s success.”
And without a doubt, Saina will want Chinese Tian Houwei, the winner of China Masters Open who made his debut last year against Delhi Dashers, to do his part as well as he did the other night in Mumbai. His value addition of this veteran will definitely add to the firepower in men singles. Tanongsak Sansomboonsuk, the first Thai shuttler to win a Superseries, has loads of experience and credentials—seven SEA Games medals and the 2010 Asian Games bronze medal in his swelling kitty—to do a thorough job in singles.
NEW also has a good mix of doubles players in Kim Ha Na—she won her first title in India Open in 20112. The silver medal winner at the Incheon Games in 2014 is a tricky customer and possesses the strokes and guile of a mixed doubles pair to outdo the best in business. After having had a quiet year, she will look to prove her worth.
Former World No 2 and a South Korean stalwart, Yoo Yeon Seong was a vital cog in the title-winning efforts of Hyderabad Hunters last season. He brings in not only the experience but also a big boost to Warriors’ doubles lineup and the PBL veteran will look to make his experience count along with Liao Min Chun, the 2014 Games bronze winner. The Taiwanese, a star attraction in the lineup, with his experience can provide the edge that NE Warriors needs.
But Mumbai Rockets do have a solid attack to counter the Warriors with the likes of Le Yong Dae and Sameer Verma in doubles and singles respectively will look for their second win.  In addition, they have proved themselves to be a tough team, having been the runners-up in Season 1 and 2. The only disadvantage could be that they will be playing the Saina-led New Warriors for the first time as they didn’t meet them in Season 3.
The momentum is certainly with Mumbai Rockets and Sameer Verma agrees that they will look to keep it going till the end of the season. “We had a good start and it will be critical that we get a good start here too against the North East.  It will be important that we continue the winning momentum,” said Sameer Verma, who trains at the Gopichand academy in Hyderabad and will be crowd’s support.

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4th State Level 4-A Side Mini Boys Under 35 Football Tournament

4th State Level 4-A Side Mini Boys Under 35 Football Tournament

IT News
Imphal, Dec 27,
4th State Level 4-A Side Mini Boys Under 35 kgs Football Tournament organised by Rising Knowledge Club Khoyathong will start from 10th January 2019. Last date of submission of entry is 7th January. Those interested football clubs can get the details either by visiting the Rising Knowledge contact can contact at Cell Phone No. 9856139980

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Hunters bank on Sindhu’s form and home support to keep winning momentum going in Vodafone PBL

Chennai Smashers will want Kashyap to fire the first salvo

Our Correspondent
Hyderabad, Dec 24

Defending champions and the P.V. Sindhu-led Hyderabad Hunters could not have asked for a better opening to Season 4 in the Vodafone Premier League Badminton (PBL) than what they got against debutant Pune 7 Aces on Saturday night. But keeping the winning momentum is what would be weighing the minds of Hunters’ players, especially when they begin the home leg and play their first match against Chennai Smashers at home tomorrow.
The confidence that Sindhu, who won the World Tour Finals, displayed the other night in Mumbai against reigning world champion Carolina Marin was something to marvel when the Indian beat her for the first time in the PBL. Having done that, she will be making all efforts along with her team members to maintain the winning momentum against the 2016 Champions, the Chennai Smashers.
Sindhu before the start of the home leg did admit Mumbai was a dream start for the team but it would be important to concentrate on the job at hand. “Yes, it was a very good start and we managed to win our opening tie without dropping a single match. Now we are playing on home turf and I am really looking forward to keeping the winning momentum going,” she said.  
Asked if the home crowd support would come in hand, she said: “Yes, we always count on the crowd support and expect yet another good game, especially I will be playing for my own city Hyderabad for the first time and it is special as well as very emotional for me.”   
On the other hand, the Parupally Kashyap, who recently tied the knot to Saina Nehwal, has his task cut out as the Chennai Smashers would want to upset all calculations of the home team. For that to happen not only the reliable Kashyap has to lead from the front but also expect Sun Ji Hyun puts up a better showing against Sindhu. But the experienced Indian knows full well that the team has to jell well and fight with full force to dislodge a settled team like Hunters. “This is going to be the first match of this season for us and the team is really determined to give its best shot tomorrow. Hyderabad Hunters are one of the strongest teams this season and they have come here with a win already in their bag and would be very confident of repeating it. In the last few days, we have trained well and are looking forward to the opening night,” said Kashyap.  
Talking on his personal form, he said that the playing at the league was very important to him after having been plagued by injuries. “Personally, playing the PBL is very important to me. Most of this year has been a difficult one for me with all the injuries and staying away from the Court. Now that I have started playing and moving well, I am really looking forward to the matches,” added the Smasher winning team member from 2016. 
The Hyderabad leg of Season 4 will end on December 28 with the doubleheader being played on the last day.
About Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 The Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4, is the one of world’s richest prize money tournament offering a total prize of INR 6 Cr. The league is conducted by SportzLive, licensee partners of PBL and is organised under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI), led by President Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. The league kick starts from December 22nd 2018-January 13th 2019 and will see 9 teams; Delhi Dashers, Mumbai Rockets, Hyderabad Hunters, Awadhe Warriors, Chennai Smashers, Bengaluru Raptors, Ahmedabad Smash Masters, North Eastern Warriors and Pune Seven Aces battle out in 5 different cities of India, including Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. Matches will be telecast live on Star Sports and live streaming made available on Hotstar.
About Badminton Association of India:
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the Governing Body for Badminton in India recognized by Ministry of Sports, Govt. of India as National Sports Federation. BAI is registered under the Societies Act and recognised by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and internationally affiliated to Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) and Badminton World Federation (BWF). BAI was formed in 1934 and Badminton Associations of all States / UTs are its Member Associations. BAI organizes National Championships for all categories of Badminton players apart from Zonal, Inter State Championships and All India Ranking Tournaments in India. BAI also conducts various International Tournaments like the India Open World SuperSeries, Syed Modi India Grand Prix, India Junior International Championship along with the ambitious grassroot project, Shuttle Time which aims to reach 1.5 million school children in 21 States in 2018. BAI has also initiated the Coaching the Coaches programmes for creating a pool of Coaches to promote Badminton in India. 
About Sportz& Live Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (Sportzlive) is a Gurgaon based sports management and marketing company set up by experienced industry veterans! It’s a venture capital funded company that acquires sports IPRs. It already has an impressive portfolio that includes the, Premier Badminton League, Indian Cue League (Snooker + Pool) and several other IPR properties. Sportzlive currently has about 90 days of Live action content as part of its overall vision for development of the sports ecosystem in the country. They have also set up North India’s largest Badminton Academy at Greater Noida in association with Pullela Gopichand.

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