Sindhu stuns top-ranked Tai in thriller
GUANGZHOU: India’s PV Sindhu pulled off a shock at the badminton World Tour Finals on Thursday as she fought back to defeat topranked Tai Tzu-ying for the irst time in over two years.
Sindhu sank to her knees at the end of an exhausting 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory over the Taiwanese in 62 enthralling minutes in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
The 23-year-old, a silver medallist at the Rio Olympics in 2016, faces Zhang Beiwen of the United States on Friday looking to make it three wins out of three in Group A of the $1.5 million end-of-year showpiece.
“Each point was hard fought,” said a relieved Sindhu, ranked sixth in the world.
“There were long rallies with good strokes. She was very deceptive and I had to be ready for her strokes.
“Even though I was trailing in the third game I didn’t lose hope and I kept fighting.” It was a disappointing day for Taiwan as men’s world number three Chou Tienchen also lost.
Chou was on the end of an 18-21, 21-11, 21-14 defeat to South Korea’s buoyant Son Wan-ho.
There was no such trouble for men’s number one and world champion Kento Momota of Japan.
He is in ominous form as he looks to put the seal on a breakthrough year and swatted aside Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-15, 21-7 for a second win in a row.
China’s Shi Yuqi, one of the main threats to red-hot Momota in the men’s draw, dismissed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, 21-8, 21-19 in 37 minutes.
LI BEATS CHEN
Meanwhile, Canada’s Michelle Li on Thursday rallied to beat Chinese world No. 3 Chen Yufei 16-21, 21-18, 21-17 on day two of the BWF World Tour Finals.
Both players had lost their opening matches on Wednesday, with Li losing to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and Chen going down to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon.
The Hong Kong-born Li held her nerve in the last game of the match after coming back from a game down and provoke unforced errors from her opponent.
“In the third game, I was taking it one point at a time and she started to feel the pressure and then she started making mistakes,” world No. 16 Li said after the match.
The win helped Li keep alive her hopes of reaching the semifinals of the tournament, while hosts China are on the verge of losing their sole title contender in the women’s singles in the form of Chen.
The Chinese player said she was tentative in her movements after slipping on court yesterday against Intanon, whom Li faces tomorrow in the last group match.
The top two players from the two groups will qualify for the semifinals, after which a knockout draw will be held.
The BWF World Tour Finals is one of badminton’s most prestigious tournaments and the year’s biggest event in terms of prize money ($1.5 million).