PBL: Awadhe Warriors beat Pune7Aces 4-3

Ashwini Ponappa and Christiansen Mathias romped toa 15-8, 11-15, 15-12 victory over the rivals Vladmir Ivanov and Line Hjmark Kjaersfeldt in the mixed doubles match to hand their team Awadhe Warriors 4-3 win against Pune7Aces in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here.

The scores were levelled at 3-3 before the mixed doubles game and then under pressure the duo of Ponappa and Mathias won the close game to hand Pune their second successive loss of the tournament.

Pune7Aces had lost their opening tie against Hyderabad Hunters on Saturday.

Ponappa and Mathias were tested in their match by the Punes mixed doubles pair, but in the end the duo held their nervous to come out triumphant despite losing the second game.

Earlier, reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin and rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen brought Pune7Aces into contention after they overcame their respective opponents of Awadhe Warriors.

Before Marins and Sens matches, Pune7Aces were trailing 0-3, but then Marin