Though Pune Pistons are playing on their home turf, they are not likely to defeat Banga Beats of Bangalore unless there is a miracle backing them today. Sport is of course full of stories of valour and courage and of underdogs taking on and beating the Goliaths. Here at the Balewadi Stadium though the odds are stocked against the hosts.

Pune’s star ladies singles player Juliane Schenk played a wonderful match against Saina Nehwal at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Mumbai recently. Though she lost the marathon three-set encounter, she stretched Saina to the limit.

Against Banga Beats, Juliane will love to play Chinese Taipei star Tai Tzu Ying. Juliane has beaten the World No 7 thrice of the four times they’ve met previously. However, Banga Beats won’t be playing Tai Tzu as they have an ace up their sleeve in Carolina Marin. The Spaniard stunned World Championships bronze winner PV Sindhu in Lucknow recently and has beaten Schenk two out of two times before.

World No 7 Nguyen Tien Minh is behind both Parupalli Kashyap and Hu Yun in head-to-head clashes losing four out of seven matches against each, and this is likely to be repeated when the Vietnamese star walks onto court today.

Just two good: Banga Beats’ singles star players Parupalli Kashyap and Spaniard Carolina Marin (inset)) should be able to win their singles ties and put pressure on Pune Pistons at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Puneu00a0today. Pics/AFP, Getty Images