The Blasters’ star player Viktor Axelsen and their Mixed Doubles’ pair of Kim Sa Rang and Sikki Reddy won the last two matches of the contest to beat a valiant Ahmedabad Smash Masters 3-2 (4-3 on points).
The final will take place at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium tomorrow.
Earlier, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying came back from an error- prone defeat in the first game, to win her crucial Trump match and keep the Smash Masters alive in the tie.
The World No. 1 beat a fighting Kristy Gilmour (Scotland) 2-1 in the Women’s Singles, the third match of the contest, to give her side a 3-2 advantage on points.
Tai Tzu took the early lead 4-2 but soon started making too many mistakes, allowing Gilmour to catch up 6-6. She almost looked helpless as Gilmour kept picking up easy points to lose the opening game at 9.
She fell behind in the second game too, giving Gilmour a whiff of victory. But then she was suddenly on song, smashing with accuracy to level the scores at 12-12 and win it at 13.
Tai Tzu dominated the third game, racing away to a 8-5 lead. She wrapped up the remaining points too quickly to win at 8.
The Blasters’ World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, however, levelled the tie 3-3, getting the better of HS Prannoy in the second Men’s Singles.
It proved to be an easy 15-11, 15-14 victory, even though he had to douse a rousing fight from Prannoy in the second game.
The tall Dane even had to ward off a game point after the two players matched each other all the way till 13-13.
Kim Sa and Sikki beat Law Cheuk Him and Kamilla Rytter Juhl 15-12, 13-15, 15-9 to the delight of the Blasters’ fans.
Earlier, India’s Sourabh Verma set the ball rolling for the Smash Masters, overcoming Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng 2-1 for the first point. The World No. 17 smashed his way to an easy 15-2 win the opening game.
The second game was much tighter, with Chong Wei defending a lot more confidently. Sourabh fell behind 6-9 but caught up with a flurry of strokes at 13-13. They exchanged one more point each to make it 14-14.
But Chong Wei came up with a perfect smash to win it. Sourabh was back at his best in the decider, even though Chong Wei stayed with him till 9-9. Sourabh picked up a four-point lead to change the momentum. He eventually won 15-10.
The Blasters jumped ahead to a 2-1 lead in the Men’s Doubles, with Kim Sa Rang & Mathias Boe taking the extra Trump point. The Hong Kong-Denmark duo were on top right from the start, with the No. 2 ranked Mathias Boe controlling the contest from the back of the court.
They beat Lee Chun Hei Reginald & K Nandagopal 15-13, 15 -12
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