Bangalore: Riding on PV Sindhu's sensational win over All-England champion Tine Baun and excellent performances by their doubles teams, Awadhe Warriors entered the Indian Badminton League final today as they edged past Mumbai Masters 3-2 in a nail-biting semi-final here.
The Warriors, who got the better of the Lee Chong Wei-led Mumbai Masters, thus booked a summit clash against Hyderabad Hotshots.
The contest between the two teams remained close till the fourth match of the tie, but the mixed doubles pair of Markis Kido-Pia Bernadeth of Warriors finally brought the cheers as they defeated Masters' Ivanov Vladimir and Baun 21-19 21-15 in the decider.
Earlier, Sindhu once again played a stellar role to bring her team back into contention following Master's icon player Lee Chong Wei's 21-15 21-7 victory over Gurusai Dutt in the first match of the tie.
After Sindhu brought Warriors on a par with Masters 1-1, it was left to her team's Markis Kido and Mathias Boe to take a lead over their opponents, which they did in style.
The combo made Masters' pair Sumeet Reddy and Pranav Jerry Chopra eat humble pie at 21-15 21-10. However, Ivanov levelled the tie at 2-2 against K Srikanth with his famous strokes mesmerising the fans as he pulled off a 21-20 21-19 win in a close match.
In the decider, Ivanov once again was seen in action playing the mixed doubles along with Baun against Kido and his sister Pia Bernadeth.
The siblings edged past Ivanov and Baun 14-10 after the second break. Soon, they bagged the first game 21-19 despite a spirited comeback by Ivanov and Baun. Kido-Pia maintained a 18-14 lead over Ivanov-Baun after the second break in the second game and defeated the Masters duo 21-15 clinch a ticket to the final for the Warriors.
