Sports Shorts: Saina keeps Awadhe Warriors stay afloat

A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday

Saina Nehwal rallied to pull off a 8-15, 15-10, 15-13 victory over world number 11 Beiwen Zhang of USA and kept Awadhe Warriors afloat in the tie against Mumbai Rockets in the Premier Badminton League, in Lucknow, on Thursday.

Mumbai have three matches out of five in the tie and are currently leading the duel 2-0 on points.

The world number 10, who is coming into the match at the back of a defeat against world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying, proved to be no match against Beiwen in the opening game.

The US Shuttler was using the length of the court perfectly, tormenting the Indian with her superb cross-court drops and smashes and raced to victory in the opening game in no time.

But Saina, known for her resilience, got back into the match and even though Beiwen was leading in the initial phases of second game, the Indian slowly turned the tide and went into break leading 8-7. She did not allow Beiwen any leeway post the interval and wrapped up the game to restore parity.

In the final game, Saina was in no mood to let go of the opportunity to pounce on her opponent and brought all her experience into play. She made full use of the tiring US player and went into the break with a lead of 8-4.

After the change of ends, even though Beiwen troubled the Indian with her impeccable net-play and saved three match points, it was Saina who eventually went on to win the match to send the packed stadium into rapturous celebration.

Earlier in the day, Sameer Verma picked up a comfortable 15-6, 15-14 straight games victory against his compatriot Harshit Aggarwal to give Mumbai Rockets a huge 2 (-1) over Awadhe Warriors in this five-match duel.

In the first match of the day, the mixed doubles pair of Lee Yong Dae and Gabriela Stoeva pulled off a major coup by beating Christinna Pedersen and Tang Chun Man 15-10, 14-15, 15-7 to give Mumbai the early lead into the tie.

Kerala Blasters secure 1-1 draw against FC Pune City

Kerala Blasters held a spirited FC Pune City to a 1-1 draw in an exciting Indian Super League (ISL) match in Kochi.

Skipper Marcelinho (33rd minute) handed FC Pune City a first-half lead but 21-year-old Mark Sifneos (73rd) struck in the second half to score the much-needed equaliser for Kerala Blasters.

After the match, Pune FC topped the table with 16 points from nine matches, while Kerala were at the 8th position with eight points after as many matches.

Pune City, who blanked NorthEast United 5-0 in their previous match, had an early chance to go ahead when a Marcelinho free-kick was flicked by Adil Khan across goal and into the path of Rafael Lopez who failed to connect.

The visitors earned five corners within the first 20 minutes of the game but success eluded them. It was only in the 33rd minute that Pune's efforts finally paid off.