PBL: Delhi Acers beat Mumbai Rockets in thrilling final to win title

New Delhi One point mdash one single solitary point mdash was eventually worth R1 crore That in a sentence encapsulates the story of the Premier Badminton League PBL final which Delhi Acers won at the Siri Fort Complex on Sunday night by a narrow 43 margin at the expense of Mumbai RocketsDelhi Acers pose with PBL Trophy PicPTIAt 14all matchpointall in the third game of the mens doubles Russian Vladimir Ivanov served for the decider point against Malaysians Tan Boon Heong and Koo Keat Kien in an effort to bag Mumbais second tie point and put the visitors in the drivers seat to bag the Rs 3 crores top prizeIvanov and Mathias Boe had recovered from a 1014 deficit in that bitterly contested final game to restore parity and had the momentum going for them Alas after an intense 16stroke rally played at a scorching pace Ivanovrsquos defence cracked the shuttle sped out along the sidelines and Mumbai had to settle for the Rs 2 crores runnerup purseAlas after an intense 16stroke rally played at a scorching pace Ivanovs defence cracked the shuttle sped out along the sidelines and Mumbai had to settle for the R2 crores runnerup purseThe crucial 21 lead that Delhi obtained after the menrsquos doubles was certain to net the home team the top prize For although Chinarsquos Han Li expectedly won the trump match for Mumbai against P C Thulasi and dragged her team into a 32 lead Englishman Rajiv Ousephrsquos victory in Delhirsquos own trump match against R M V Gurusaidutt at the fag end of the tie was a foregone conclusionHad Boe and Ivanov won that heartstopping final rally Mumbai would have been 21 ahead after the first three matches and would have taken an unbeatable 41 lead when Han Li proved her undoubted superiority over Thulasi There would have been no need at all for the OusephGurusaidutt clashThe final had opened propitiously for Mumbai with the gangling Ivanov raining down smashes from his great height on Akshay Dewalkar and Britainrsquos Gabrielle Adcock and receiving sterling support from lefthanded Dane Kamilla Rytter Juhl for a facile 156 1512 triumphTommy Sugiarto bronze medallist at the 2015 World Championships pulled one back for Delhi by wearing down H S Prannoy at 1315 159 159 The Indonesian was without doubt Delhirsquos most valuable player winning all the six matches he was involved in as Delhirsquos three musketeers of Sugiarto Ouseph and Ajay Jayaram won 13 of the 14 menrsquos singles ties they played in the tournamentThen came the menrsquos doubles in which three of the four players on court had occupied the world no1 position at one time or another in the past six years the odd man out being Ivanov And it was the Russianrsquos slightly inferior defence that proved Mumbairsquos Achilles heel as Tan and Koo pipped the BoeIvanov combination at 1415 1510 1514 in an ending that raised the mercury to dizzy levels27 year old Han Li who had lowered the colours of a lessthanfullyfit Saina Nehwal in the course of the Mumbai RocketsAwadhe Warriors semifinal was initially rocked by a spirited showing by Thulasi and made some uncharacteristic unforced errors But class could not be denied and the Chinese won at 1215 158 158That left Gurusaidutt with the difficult task of beating Rajiv Ouseph in Delhirsquos trump match The doughty Gopichand Academy trainee has always had trouble against the British player of Indian origin and Ouseph was comfortably able to repeat the win he had achieved during their group clash A 1511 156 scoreline for Ouseph and the home team was able to write its name on the glittering trophyThe DelhiMumbai final was truly a magnificent peroration to a tournament that captured the imagination of badmintonlovers in the country with its shorter 15pointspergame format the suddendeath ending to the game and innovative trump rule that provided an extra point for a win but a negative point for a lossThat Delhi won the top prize was in no small measure due to their strength in the menrsquos singles department and the fact that they used their trump card brilliantly The Acers were the only side in the fortnightlong competition to win all the seven trumps they played and that in the final analysis helped the team go the extra mile