Showing admirable composure, the former Indian national champion surged to a gritty 15-13, 15-12 win over the much-fancied American from the Warriors.

In her first ever meeting with the former India Open champion, the 23-year-old refused to be intimidated by her higher-accomplished opponent as she put in a performance to remember against the Awadhe Trump. Continuing from where she left off against World No. 10 Michelle Li, against whom she was able to take a game, Das came well-prepared. Exhibiting her full repertoire of net flicks and by riding on her exquisite placement of the shuttle, the World No. 100 was able to put Zhang in a spot of bother.

Making the Awadhe ace run to every corner of the court, her strategy of tiring out the American worked brilliantly as she held her nerves to pull off the win in front of her roaring Pune 7 Aces team members.

“I just wanted to play it safe and ensure that I made no mistake. Coming into this match after a good performance against Michelle Li, my confidence was high. I am glad I was able to pull it off this time,” said Das after her big win.

Having suffered their first loss of the season in Pune’s last tie, Commonwealth Games gold medallists Chris and Gabrielle Adcock roared back to form with a strong 15-6, 15-9 win against Awadhe’s Christinna Pedersen and Ivan Sozonov.

2019 Thailand Masters champion Loh Kean Yew grabbed a 15-12, 15-14 Trump win over Subhankar Dey of the Awadhe Warriors to make it a night to remember for the Aces.

The Warriors were able to secure only two wins on the night. Pune’s Hendra Setiawan and Chirag Shetty lost for the first time this season in a gruelling three-game encounter with Awadhe’s World No. 24 pair of Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol. Shetty and Setiawan had been on a four-match winning streak so far which was snapped by a gutsy show by the Awadhe pair, who came back to win 6-15, 15-9, 15-12.

Ajay Jayaram also bounced back from a slow start to edge Pune’s Kazumasa Sakai 6-15, 15-10, 15-13 to finish the tie on a high for the Warriors despite the overall tie not going their way.

Earlier Rising star Priyanshu Rajawat stole the show as PV Sindhu put up a masterclass against Shriyanshi Pardeshi to guide Hyderabad Hunters to a gritty 4-3 win over Mumbai Rockets .

With the win, the Hunters climbed one spot above to the sixth position in the league standings.

It hasn’t been a season to remember for the Season 3 champions, nevertheless Rajawat and Sindhu’s strong performances gave them lots of reasons to cheer as the 284th ranked Dhar shuttler displayed tons of courage and self-belief to beat World No. 49 Lee Dong Keun 15-13, 15-9.

Trailing 5-8, the 18-year-old showed remarkable speed and power for a youngster to claw his way back and even lead 11-9. His impressive footwork and smart placement of the shuttle had Keun in trouble as Rajawat kept targeting his backhand. With the crowd roaring, the youngster surged to 14-11 before wrapping up the opener.

By alternating powerful smashes with delicate drops at the net, the young gun rolled to 8-5 and kept his cool to maintain the lead and reach 11-8. Buoyed by the cheers of support, he finished the big win and fistpumped to celebrate it in front of a delighted home crowd.

Before that world champion Sindhu brought on her A-game to defeat her younger compatriot, Shriyanshi Pardeshi 15-5, 15-10. Sindhu had come to this match on a two-match losing streak, having suffered a reversal of fortunes at the hands of Michelle Li and Tai Tzu Ying. This time the Hunters Trump made no mistake in a clinical display against the youngster.

The first game was a completely one-way traffic as Pardeshi found it difficult to counter the pace and power of the Hunters ace. In the second game, however, the Mumbai player was able to give a better account of herself. By speeding up the shuttle, she was able to put an end to Sindhu’s domination. As Sindhu fumbled at the net, Pardeshi was just two points away from the World No. 6 at 9-11 before the Hyderabad shuttler stopped her momentum and wrapped up the match.

Earlier, 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap won his first match of the season after tasting a defeat in four consecutive ties. The Mumbai ace has a 3-2 head-to-head record against World No. 42 Daren Liew on the BWF World Tour and he brought all that conviction against Malaysian whom he last beat at the Korea Open in November. Showing all his rhythm and range, the Mumbai Trump was able to register a quickfire 15-8, 15-13 win.

In men’s doubles, Kim Sa Rang and Kim Gi Jung of Mumbai easily beat Hyderabad’s Ben Lane and Vladimir Ivanov 15-10, 15-8.

With the two teams sharing the first four matches, it was all down to the mixed doubles rubber where Sikki Reddy and Vladimir Ivanov teamed up for the hosts against Kim Sa Rang and Pia Zebadiah of Mumbai. Raining their smashes, the home pair grabbed a 15-8, 15-8 win to seal the tie for Hyderabad Hunters.