Chong Wei helps Mumbai thrash Delhi 4-1

MUMBAI: As expected, Lee Chong Wei provided the Mumbai Masters with a perfect start in their tie against the Delhi Smashers in the Indian Badminton League, much to the enjoyment of a large audience at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel arena at the National Sports Club of India here on Tuesday.
The Malaysian World No. 1 began with a flourish winning the opening men's singles against compatriot Daren Liew 21-12, 21-16 in just 37 minutes and later joined Denmark's Tine Baun to win the mixed doubles - the fifth and final match of the tie 21-18, 15-21, 11-5 as the Masters defeated Smashers 4-1.
Wei and Baun, who had earlier outclassed Delhi's Arundhati Pantawane 21-11, 21-13 in the women's singles for her first win of the League, had provided the Masters with a 2-0 lead.
Smashers came back into the tie when their Malaysian doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng handed Masters' Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri a 14-21, 21-15, 11-7 defeat to get back the tie at 1-2.
Young and rising star Sai Praneeth then made a valiant effort for the Smashers against German Marc Zwiebler to level the tie in the second men's singles. Praneeth, who won the first game was stretched into the decider, where it was a touch and go affair, but the Indian lost despite having an upper hand for most part of the match. Zwiebler escaped with a 18-21, 21-10, 11-9 win to give Masters an unassailable lead of 3-1.
For the 3,000-odd spectators though, including cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, it was the battle between Wei and Liew that provided the thrills and every point was cheered big time.
The 30-year-old Wei didn't take long to warm-up, racing to a 8-2 lead in the first game. Liew then fought making the most of Wei's unforced errors - including three in a row into the net - to make it 9-12. That wasn't enough as Wei continued to soar showcasing his super talent.
He kept falling to lift half-court smashes and would be back up in a flash to attack again. The deft flicks and high jump smashes were all a delight as he pocketed the game 21-12.
Liew tried hard in the second game too moving neckin-neck with Wei and the scores at 12-all suggested a comeback. Wei, however, had other ideas as he changed gears.. His parallel strokes over the net were simply amazing as was his deception.
For Tine Baun, it was a much easier outing as Pantawane didn't have much in her to challenge the Dane's might on the night.