Raptors to face warriors in first PBL semifinal

A day before facing the table toppers Awadhe Warriors in the semi-finals, the Bengaluru Raptors got a huge boost of confidence by beating former champions Chennai Smashers in front of their home crowd at the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, here on Thursday.

Bengaluru skipper Kidambi Srikanth recorded his sixth win in as many matches and Sai Praneeth contributed as well to help Bengaluru dethrone the Mumbai Rockets from the third spot as the league stage came to an end.

While the Raptors were drawn to face the Awadhe Warriors on the first day of the semi-finals, defending champions Hyderabad Hunters will take on two-time runners-up Mumbai Rockets in the second semi-final on Saturday.

With the in-form Son Wan Ho in their line-up, the Warriors will pose some serious threat for last season's runners-up Bengaluru. PV Sindhu, meanwhile, will try her best to inspire the Hunters when they meet the Lee Yong Dae and Sameer Verma-led ...