In the day’s early ties, Lucknow Aviators convincingly beat DMG Delhi Crusaders 88-72 while Paramount Proec Tigers staged a comeback to defeat Sankara Stag Babolat Yoddhas 83-77.

In the second session, Indraprastha Warriors comfortably beat Mumbai Acers 88-72 while Inchiban Samurai were far too good for defending champions Gurgaon Sapphires (83-77).

The set of results put Indraprastha Warriors and Ichiban Samurai in top-two places from Group A. While Lucknow Aviators and Paramount Proec Tigers held the top two spots in Group B. The top-two teams will qualify for the semi-final on Sunday with the teams ranked based on points won.

Paramount Proec Tigers were neck-and-neck, on 30-30, after three matches before conceding a four-point deficit following the fifth match where Arjun Kadhe thumped Vishnu Vardhan 18-12. It gave Sankara Stag Babolat Yoddhas a 57-53 lead.

In the doubles matches, Sravya Shivani & Divya Ungrish beat Sowjanya Bavisetti & Sahira Singh (13-7) to turn things around before Vishnu Vardhan & Parikshit Somani ensured the win when they held the upper hand over Arjun Kadhe & Vansh Bisht (17-13).

If this was a close contest, the tie between DMG Delhi Crusaders and Lucknow Aviators was a blowout. Jennifer Luikham and Kashish Bhatia played out a nervy 10-10 draw in the 20-point tiebreak format in the first match. But in the subsequent matches, Lucknow Aviators’ Shivank Bhatnagar and Diva Bhatia gave the team a sizeable 16-point lead when they trounced Sarthak Suden and Somya Arya respectively.

Karan Singh did give the DMG Delhi Crusaders reason to celebrate briefly with a 17-13 win over Anirudh Chandrasekar but the damage was already done. In a format where every point matters, this defeat may come back to haunt DMG Delhi Crusaders and their quest to qualify for the semi-finals.

The evening ties followed the theme of the day with one remaining close while the other was a one-sided affair. Indraprastha Warriors registered 14-6 and 18-12 wins in the Women’s Pro & Master’s Pro Doubles matches followed by men’s singles matches. It gave them a 14 point lead which the team maintained until the end.

Ichiban Samurai, meanwhile, were coasting along at one stage with a 12 point lead (61-49) over the Gurgaon Sapphires. They were helped in their cause by thumping – 14-6 and 13-7 - wins to get the tie underway. Sharmada Balu & Ruma Gaikaiwari did stage a comeback by beating Sahja Yamalapalli & Gauri Mangaonkar 15-5 and cut down the gap to just two points (64-66).

But in the decisive matchup featuring Nitin Kumar Sinha & Rushil Khosla vs Rithvik Choudhary & Maan Kesharwani, the Ichiban Samurai pairing won 17-13 to seal the tie in their favour.