SINDHU ENTERS WORLDS FINAL
Nanjing (China), Aug.
4: Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu claimed a second successive World Championships final spot after seeing off a fighting Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in straight games at the women’s singles semifinals here on Saturday.
Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the Glasgow edition last year after losing to another Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, notched up a superb 2116, 24-22 win over world number two Yamaguchi in a 54 minute match.
Ahead of the match, Sindhu had a 6-4 head-tohead record against Yamaguchi, who had defeated the Indian in big-ticket events such as All England Championship this year and the Dubai Superseries Final last year.
The duo faced off twice this year with each registering a win.
The 23-year-old, who also had two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014, faces Olympic champion and former two-time gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain on Sunday.
Marin had robbed Sindhu off a gold medal at the Rio Olympics after defeating the Indian in the summit clash.
Marin, a two-time world champion, was a
game down to He Bingjiao when the Chinese took a heavy fall at the start of the second.
The sound of her hitting the floor was audible in the arena.
She gingerly picked herself up much to roars from the crowd but He was never the same after that, Marin winning by a 13-21, 21-16, 21-13 scores as her foe’s game collapsed. MOMOTA ONE WIN FROM REDEMPTION Japan’s Kento Momota, who last year completed a lengthy ban for illegal gambling, is within touching distance of redemption after surging into the final.
He will play China’s Shi Yuqi in Sunday’s Nanjing showpiece, which promises to be a thrilling showdown between two of badminton’s rising stars.
Momota’s highly promising career hit a major roadblock in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illicit casino, denying him a place at the Rio Olympics.
Momota has been working his way back to the top of badminton ever since and the worldranked seven is currently in the form of his life.
He faced a dangerous challenge in his Nanjing semi-final from Liew Daren, the unseeded Malaysian who had been an unlikely giantkiller.
Liew surged into a 5-0 lead in the first game but the explosive Momota woke up to seize the initiative — and ultimately the match — in style, 2116, 21-5.
Shi comfortably beat Chen Long to race into the final and confirm his newfound status as China’s best player.
The 22-year-old defeated Chinese legend Lin Dan on the way to the last four and has now claimed the scalp of Olympic champion Chen, who was chasing a third world title.
The brilliantly agile Shi taught Chen, 29, something of a lesson with a comprehensive straight games — 21-11, 21-17 victory.