Masters aim to hit Smashers hard

MUMBAI: There's a palpable excitement in the Mumbai Masters camp. It's not only because of the arrival of their spearhead Lee Chong Wei but also due to the fact that they will be playing at home for the first time in the IBL.
"I'm told all the tickets are sold out," asked an innocuous Siki Reddy, only to be told yes. "Oh, it is going to be exciting," she exclaimed, adding "we need to be at our best".
Siki sounded much like her senior team partner and pro Tine Baun, former World No.1 from Denmark. Baun, struggling to find top form had earlier said, "I think we really have good team spirit. I think we have done the best we could until now and hopefully we can do our best again tomorrow and maybe be successful."
Up against the Masters, on Tuesday, will be Delhi Smashers who are riding on a kicking 3-2 win over the Hyderabad Hotshots, after being down 0-2 in their last encounter. The Masters on their part were pipped by Pune Pistons 2-3 in their last tie in a nail-biting finish.
With six points from two ties, both Mumbai and Delhi are placed joint-third and as such it will be even-stevens when the teams meet on Tuesday night. All eyes will be on the Malaysian star Chong Wei and the Smashers will pitch Daren Liew against him. The 26-year-old Liew handed Taufik Hidayat a straight defeat the other night.
The Smashers will bank heavily on their Malaysian doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng, who were superb in their last outing against the Hotshots.
Smashers will also want their mixed team of V Diju and Prajakta Sawant to excel again. That said, the Masters are a formidable force. They have Valdimir Ivanov, who has been top notch both in singles and doubles. There's the German Marc Zwiebler and the mixed duo of Pranav Chopra and Siki Reddy.