KGF Wolves beat Mandya Bulls for title in inaugural "Grand Prix Badminton League"

KGF Wolves carried their fine form in the tournament to wrest the title in the inaugural Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL), trouncing a strong Mandya Bulls side 7-2 in the final at the Karnataka Badminton Association here on Sunday.

With India's badminton icon and two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu watching the final from the sidelines, Gloria Vinayakumar gave the Wolves a perfect start by winning her singles match against Ananya Praveen.

However, the pair of Ashith Surya and Sai Pratheek won their Trump match against the duo of Hemanth Gowda and Prakash Raj to help the Bulls nose ahead 2-1. Naren S Iyer restored parity with a win in the men's singles against Anirudh Deshpande.

The pair of Suhas V. and Amurtha P. then strengthened the lead with a victory in the mixed doubles over the pair of Madhusudan M. and Ruth Misha Vinod.

With three points at stake in the Super Match with the Wolves naming it as their trump match, the trio of Hemanth, Prakash, and Suhas garnered full points to seal victory for the Wolves, who took away the winner's cheque of Rs 24 lakh.

The Bulls had to be content with the runners-up cheque of Rs 12 lakh. Hemanth was also adjudged as the Player of the Tournament and took home a cheque of Rs 25,000.

Result:

KGF Wolves bt Mandya Bulls 7-2 (WS: Gloria Vinayakumar bt Ananya Praveen 15-11, 15-11 MD: Hemanth M Gowda/Prakash Raj lost to Ashith Surya/Sai Pratheek (Trump) 7-15, 15-11, 14-15; MS: Naren S Iyer bt Anirudh Deshpande 15-13, 15-3; MXD: Suhas V/Amrutha P bt Madhusudan M/Ruth Misha Vinod 15-8, 15-14 SM: Hemanth M Gowda/Prakash Raj/ Suhas V (Trump) bt Ashith Surya/Sai Pratheek/Madhusudan M. 21-15)

Player of the tie: Suhas V.

Player of the tournament: Hemanth M. Gowda.