NEW DELHI: In a clash of Titans, Olympic Champion Carolina Marin pulled off a stunning victory over World No.6 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea to help Hyderabad Hunters stay alive in the last tie of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League here today.
Hyun, who had beaten Marin on both the occasions in the last season, could not continue her winning streak against the Spaniard as she went down 10-15,12-15.
A win for Delhi in this match would have given them a great opportunity to tighten their noose on Hyderabad but Hyun failed to build on the momentum keeping the tie open for an exciting finish. With three matches over, Delhi Dashers are leading 2-0 on points with a chance of sealing the deal in the next match when Delhi's trump player Tian Houwei takes on Sai Praneeth of Hyderabad.
Earlier in the day, Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong pulled off a major coup over Hunters' trump player Lee Hyun Il of Korea in a pulsating contest.
World No.15 Vincent, who came into the tie with two losses in two matches so far in the season, looked like he will end the day with his winless record intact after going down 12-15 in the first game.
However, he came back strong and even though the Korean veteran was up to the task, Vincent managed to win the second game 15-11 and force the match into the decider.
Vincent grew into match and raced to a 10-4 lead. An error-prone Lee had no answers to his opponents fast pressing game and finally went down 4-15 in the first men's singles to not only lose the crucial match but also condemn his side to a -1 on points.
This is the second time that a player has lost his trump match in Season 3, with the first being Vincent.
In the third match of the tie, Current Olympic champion registered a stunning straight games victory over World No.6 Sung Ji Hyun to help Hunters pull one back and keep them alive in this riveting contest.
The Dashers started off the tie with a bang as their Russian menÂ’s doubles pair of Ivan Sozonov and Vladimir Ivanov breezed past Indonesia-Korean combination of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong 15-9, 15-11.