GPBL: Mangalore Sharks, Mandya Bulls qualify for Super League

Bengaluru, Aug 16 (IANS) Mangalore Sharks, despite losing their last league match against Bandipur Tuskers qualified for the Super League from Group A, by tallying 14 points in the Grand Prix Badminton League at the Karnataka Badminton Association, here on Tuesday.

Mandya Bulls who blanked Kodagu Tigers 7-0 in the earlier tie of the day, topped the pool with 17 points to qualify.

With Bulls having already secured a place in the Super League, both Sharks (11 points) and Tuskers (6 points) stood a chance to qualify until the mixed doubles match which was called a trump match by both the teams. This was after Prerana N Shet had given the sharks a good start by winning her singles match against Alfiya Riyaz.

Daniel Farid and Vaibhav V equalised for Tuskers in the men's doubles while Abhishek Yeligar put them ahead by a point winning his singles match against Jayanth G.

The match was decided in the penultimate encounter when the mixed doubles pair of Raghu Mariswamy and Vijetha Harish won their trump tie against Abhishek Yeligar and Apeksha Nayak to gain two points while their opponents got a negative point, rendering the Super Match inconsequential.

In the Bulls versus Tigers tie, Ananya Praveen gave a perfect start for the Bulls with an upset win over the in-form and State champion Rujula Ramu in a three setter while the duo of Ashith Surya and Sai Pratheek increased the lead to 2-0 with the doubles victory.

With both the teams having declared the men's singles as their trump match, Anirudh Deshpande, who was later declared the Player of the Tie, beat Saneet Dayanand as the Bulls earned two points while the Tigers got a negative point.

Despite their mixed doubles team losing the penultimate match, the trio of Ashith Surya/ Sai Pratheek/Madhusudan M won three points for their team with a win in the Super Match.

Results:

Bandipur Tuskers beat Mangalore Sharks 4-3

WS: Alfiya Riyaz lost to Prerana N Shet 15-14, 11-15, 12-15; MD: Daniel S Farid / Vaibhav V bt Kushal Raj / Shashank HN 14-15, 15-9, 15-10; MS: Abhishek Yeligar bt Jayanth G 15-13, 15-5; MXD: Abhishek Yeligar / Apeksha Nayak (Trump) lost to Raghu Mariswamy / Vijetha Harish (Trump) 8-15, 11-15; SM: Daniel Farid / Vaibhav V / Ganesh Vittalji bt Kushal Raj / Raghu Mariswami / Sachin C 21-15.

Mandya Bulls beat Kodagu Tigers 7-0

WS: Ananya Praveen bt Rujula Ramu 15-13, 14-15, 15-7; MD: Ashith Surya / Sai Pratheek bt Saif Ali / Vasantha Kumar 15-8,15-8; MS: Anirudh Deshpande (Trump) bt Saneeth Dayanand (Trump) 15-10, 15-9; MXD: Madhusudan M / Ruth Misha Vinod lost to Saneeth Dayanand / Ramya Venkatesh 9-15, 8-15; SM: Ashith Surya / Sai Pratheek / Madhusudan M bt Saif Ali / Adarsh Kumar / Vasantha Kumar 21-13.