Bengaluru Ninjas, Delhi Warriors ease into quarterfinals of TPL

Bengaluru Ninjas registered victories over Assam Heroes and Haryana Hunters to advance to the quarterfinals of the inaugural Taekwondo Premier League on Saturday.

Prashanth Rana, silver medallist in the Senior Nationals, led Bengaluru’s charge, helping overcome a valiant Assam Heroes 12-2, 14-14, 10-9.

In their second match in Group A, Prashanth was in impressive form, setting up an emphatic 21-15, 11-5, 35-3 victory for his team.

Delhi Warriors trounced Hyderabad Gliders 22-1, 9-1, 30-4 and Lucknow Nawabs 19-6, 24-13, 8-8 to also book a berth in the last-eight stage. Four-time national champion Sahil was the star for Delhi.

Lucknow got the better of Hyderabad to also make it to the quarterfinals.

Maharashtra Avengers made light of losing India No. 1 Prithiviraj Chauhan during the weigh-in to enter the quarterfinals. The country’s number two player Shivan Shetty led his team to an emphatic 11-2, 13-4, 11-1 victory over Himachal Hurricanes.

Rajasthan Royals trounced Himachal Hurricanes 22-3, 14-1, 8-3.

Group C saw Gujarat Thunders zooming to the top with two straight wins. They first sneaked past Punjab Royals 10-6, 11-9, 14-4 and then recorded a one-sided 15-0, 11-0, 21-3 win over Chennai Strikers.

Manish Chavan, a gold medal winner in the Senior National Championship in 2018, and Satish were the other two players who did well for Maharashtra Avengers.