Mumbai

Late on Tuesday, the Hyderabad outfit had outplayed Rajasthan Panthers 49-31. It was also Bengaluru's second defeat, having lost to the Mumbai Leon Army 39-41 earlier.

Pune Jaguars also continued their winning form with a 46-34 victory over Rajasthan Panthers, for whom it the second league stage loss.

Karman Kaur gave Hyderabad Strikers a winning start, scoring over the higher ranked Uzbek Sabina Sharipova 11-9. However, Bengaluru came roaring back through N Sriram Balaji, who served big and volleyed well against Arjun Kadhe, jumping to a 7-0 lead before winning 14-6, to give them a sizeable lead.

It was here that the team strength of Hyderabad came into play, with Vishnu Vardhan joining Karman for a 11-9 win over Jeevan N and Sharipova to cut the lead. With the advantage still with Bengaluru, Hyderabad needed a big win in the deciding men's doubles and Vishnu and Kadhe did exactly that, both using their big serves and sharp net coverage to advantage, winning 14-6 over Bala and Jeevan to seal the tie.

Rutuja was once again in good form for Pune Jaguars, winning the opening singles 11-9 over Rajasthan's Latvian player Diana Marcinkevica. Saketh Myneni continued the momentum with a 12-8 victory over Aryan Goveas and then they won the mixed doubles and men's doubles 12-8 and 11-9 respectively for a comfortable victory.

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android