PBL 2018-19: 5 players who disappointed in the Ahmedabad Leg
The Ahmedabad leg of the Premier Badminton League 2018-19 saw some exciting matches. It had its usual share of highs and lows.
Though there were some players who played beyond expectations and some who lived up to the challenge, there were also some who let themselves and their franchises down.
In the list below, there are six such players, which includes four singles players and a doubles pair.
Of the four singles players, two were expected to sail through their matches but managed to lose the matches, somehow. There is also a player who played with a higher ranked player. On the face of it, it may not come as a surprise, but the manner in which he capitulated after winning the first game in an impressive manner was certainly extremely disappointing.
There is another singles player in this list who actually won the match. But the manner of that victory against a much-lower-ranked player was so lackluster that it can only be termed a disappointment and her franchise would certainly hope for a much better performance from her in the knock-out stages.
The doubles pair in this list is one of the most popular in the world of badminton and their defeat came as a shock to not just their franchise and fans, but to the badminton world in general.
#1 Carolina Marin (Pune7 Aces)
This season of PBL has certainly not seen the best of the Olympic champion. Though she did play well against world number 32 Evgeniya Kosetskaya and won in a lop-sided manner 15-5, 15-6 to help her team tide over a lackluster Delhi Dashers, her performance against the world number 11 Korean Sung Ji Hyun was a disappointment.
Had she won the match, Pune7 Aces would have most certainly defeated the Chennai Smashers as they finally went down to the Chennai-based franchise by a close margin of 3-4. To her credit, she did not go down tamely and put up a spirited fight.
But from a player of her caliber, nothing but a win is required against players who are far below in world rankings. It was more of a disappointment for Marin since she came into this match with a 7-1 head-to-head record.