India had a mixed Wednesday at the ongoing badminton World Championships in Nanjing, China as the likes of HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma, and top doubles pairs of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, Ashwini Ponnappa/Sikki Reddy were knocked out.
However, Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal have managed to reach the third round and are a win away from the quarter-final rounds in the world meet.
When do the matches start and how to watch it online
10th seed Saina takes on fourth seed and former champion Ratchanok Intanon.
- Start time: Not before 3:30 pm local time, 1 pm IST
Fourth seed Sindhu takes on ninth seed Sung Ji Hyun.
- Start time: Not before 5:30 pm local time: 3 pm IST
Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be made available on Hotstar.
Saina vs Intanon
In what is expected to be one of the most exciting clashes of the day, Saina and Intanon battle for a berth in the last eight of the tournament.
Saina, who had received a first-round bye, made light work of lower-ranked Aliye Demirbag of Turkey in straight games on Tuesday. The world number 10 has not been in the best of form ever since she reached the semi-final at Badminton Asia Championships in April.
However, the former numero uno loves playing at the big stage and often steps up at the right moments.
Saina starts off as the favourite, considering her positive head-to-head record against Intanon. Notably, the bronze medalist from last year's Glasgow meet has defeated the Thailand ace, nine times in 14 meetings, which includes her straight-game win earlier this year at Indonesia Masters.
Sindhu vs Sung
Sindhu had no trouble in dispatching Fitriani of Indonesia in straight games in yesterday's second-round match.
The Indian shuttler will be hoping to progress deeper into the tournament but her immediate focus would be on getting the better of ninth seed Sung, whom she has beaten seven times in previous 12 meetings.
Sung has had a topsy-turvy season (15-10) as she suffered multiple injuries at various points in time. Nonetheless, the South Korean shuttler showed promise in last month's Indonesia Open where she reached the last-four stages.
Sindhu holds the edge but the Indian shuttler needs to be at her best to beat Sung, who is looking to revive her season at the biggest stage of world badminton.
BWF World Championships: Global TV guide
- Malaysia: TV - Astro Supersport 4; Live stream - Astro Go
- Singapore: TV - Hub Sports 1; Live stream - StarHub Go
- Thailand: TV - True Sport HD 3 & True Sport 7; Live stream - TrueVisions Anywhere
- China: CCTV5 +
- Chinese Taipei: SportsCast Tennis Channel
- Indonesia: Indovision
