PV Sindhu will face 19-year-old Chinese shuttler Chen Yufei in the women's singles semi-final of Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017 at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai on Saturday, December 16.
Sindhu, who is featuring in her second straight semi-final at the season-ending tournament, stormed into the last-four stage after remaining unbeaten in the group stages. Notably, the world number four smashed out top seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-9, 21-13 on Friday in what was one of her most commanding display in the recent past.
The Indian shuttler headed into the tournament on the back of a runner-up finish at last month's Hong Kong Open. She battled hard against He Bingjiao of China in the opening encounter, which she won in an hour and four minutes 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 and then went on to win her second group-stage match with ease against Sayaka Sato 21-13, 21-12 on Thursday.
Even as her compatriot Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the tournament without a win, Sindhu has raised hopes of a podium finish with some dominant performances in Dubai so far.
Head-to-head record
Sindhu is now gearing up for the all-important semi-final battle against one of her familiar foes in Yufei, who she has faced four times in 2017. Notably, the two have shared honours this year (2-2) with the Olympic and world championships silver medallist winning their most recent meeting at French Open in October.
Unlike the post-World Championships phase, Sindhu has looked fresh in the ongoing tournament. Sindhu, who has spent relatively lesser time on court than her opponent Yufei starts the match as the favourite.
Sindhu would want to better her 2016 Superseries Finals performance, but she needs to be at her best to get past the Chinese teenager, who is looking to make a swift progress to the top of senior badminton.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The women's singles semi-final between Sindhu and Yufei will not start before 7 pm local time, 8:30 pm IST
Other singles semi-final matches to watch out for
- Akane Yamaguchi vs Ratchanok Intanon - 4 pm local time, 5:30 pm IST
- Shi Yuqi vs Viktor Axelsen - 5 pm local time, 6:30 pm IST
- Son Wan Ho vs Lee Chong Wei - 8 pm local time, 9:30 pm IST
Live streaming and TV coverage
India: TV: Star Sports 2. Live streaming: Hotstar
China: CCTV5
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport 4. Live streaming: Astro Go
Singapore: TV: Star Hub. Live streaming: Starhub Go
Live scores can be followed on BWF's official website.
