MOMOTA JOINS SINDHU, VERMA IN SEMIS
GUANGZHOU: Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Sameer V erma have advanced to these mi in a ls of the BWF World Tour Finals 2018. Sindhu defeated Beiwen Zhand of the US 21-9, 21-15 in a lop-sided women’s singles match here on Friday.
The Rio Olympic silver medallist and world No.6 registered her third straight win to advance to the semi-finals. With three wins, Sindhu also finished at the top of her group.
Meanwhile, world champion Kento Momota also revved into the last four with a third comprehensive victory on Friday, powering past Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto 21-14, 21-8 in just 36 minutes.
Joining the world number one from Group B is the late Indian qualifier Sameer Verma, who will play home hope Shi Yuqi in Saturday’s last four.
Momota, who has won all three of his matches this week without dropping a game, will be strong favourite against South Korea’s Son Wan-ho in their semi-final.
In the women’s draw, there was heartbreak for world number one Tai Tzu-ying.
The Taiwanese retired with a right hamstring strain against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and said: “I’ve never had this injury before.
“I felt it during today’s match. I feel bad that the tournament ended like this for me, but there was nothing I could do.”
Yamaguchi will face Nozomi Okuhara in an all-japanese showdown while in-form PV Sindhu of India plays Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the other women’s semi-final.
In the men’s singles, Sameer Verma sailed into semis after defeating World No. 17 Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand 21-9, 21-18. Sameer finished Group B engagements with two wins and one loss.
Sindhu, who had stunned world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying in her previous match, didn’t make a good start against Zhang, conceding a 0-4 lead early on.
But she clawed back at 6-6 after producing some angled returns. The world No.6 Indian kept the pressure and eked out a three-point advantage at the break after Zhang hit out. Sindhu then produced some precise returns to extend her lead to 17-8.
The Hong Kong-born US shuttler unleashed a cross court smash to break the run of points but Sindhu reciprocated with an equally superb smash. She eventually got game point when Zhang hit the net.
The Indian then sealed the opening game when Zhang failed to reach a shot at the fore court.
After the change of sides, Sindhu continued to dominate the proceedings to accumulate the first five points before hitting long.
At 2-6, Zhang produced a precise body smash and then got a lucky net chord to gain a couple of points. She also played an exceptional net shot and drew parity at 7-7 when Sindhu went long.
The Indian managed a 11-9 advantage at the interval after Zhang went long again.
The Indian extended her lead to 16-12 after the breather even as Zhang showed signs of frustration.
Sindhu continued to control the rallies and went to 20-12 when Zhang hit net twice.
The Indian committed three unforced errors before sealing the contest, following her opponent’s miscued shot which went long.