Mumbai, Jan 27 Mumbai Pickle Power smashed past the Hyderabad Super Stars by 5-0 in the World Pickleball League (WPBL) on Monday to become the first team to record three consecutive victories in the competition. It was a thoroughly flawless display by the home team, as it swept aside the opposition across all five matches to command 15 points from this fixture.
Mumbai Pickle Power are now placed atop the points table with 37 points from three ties, having clinched a league-high 12 match victories along with a solitary draw.
Brandon Lane, who is undefeated across his six matches, put on a powerful display to overturn the momentum and defeat his Hyderabad counterpart Max Freeman by 19-17 in men’s singles. He partnered with Glauka Carvajal Lane to oust Ross Whittaker and Ava Cavataio by 14-8 in mixed doubles to cap off the outing. Brandon reflected on his match against Freeman as one of the toughest ever that he has faced.
“I am enjoying playing in India. This is a very competitive format. The match against Max Freeman was one of the toughest ever, especially given the fact that he is a left-hander. It's good that we've almost made it to the next round. But we came back strongly against Chennai and then Bengaluru. All the matches were quite tight today but it gives us immense pleasure to see that we got all the 15 points on offer,” Brandon said after the game.
Katie Morris and Glauka teamed up to edge past Cavatio and Madalina Grigoriu by 9-7 in women’s doubles. The Mumbai duo’s composure under pressure deserves special praise since the game appeared locked at 7-7 before the former grabbed hold of a couple of crucial points to notch three points for their team.
That was followed by Mayur Patil and Eung Wong Kim producing a terrific comeback to clinch the men’s doubles match against Freeman and Ben Cawston. Freeman and Cawston began the fixture brilliantly, holding an 8-1 advantage at one point before Mayur and Kim blended their flair and flamboyance seamlessly to cruise their way back into the fight and register a 15-14 win.
Mihae Kwon made light work of her women’s singles match against Karolina Owczarek. Mihae had stormed into this match on the back of an excellent play against Dilli Dillwale. She was absolutely at ease on court, gliding the length and breadth of the same with finesse to emerge triumphant at key junctures and seal the deal with an 11-8 margin.
“Brandon is playing some of the best pickleball I have seen any pickleball player play ever. It's a bonus to have him go out there and play the first match to give us a solid start and then rally around with a superb mixed doubles display with Glauka. It's my job to ensure there is no room for complacency. We go out there, play the next two matches like we've always played,” Mumbai Pickle Power head coach Sam Basford said about the match.
Mumbai are set to clash with the Chennai Super Champs in their forthcoming fixture, to be played on Tuesday.
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