PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma will lead India's campaign in the Women's and Men's singles quarter-final of the Korea Open Superseries tournament, respectively, on Friday, September 15.
Sindhu and Verma were the only two singles shuttlers to prevail on Thursday, September 15 as compatriots Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap lost their respective R16 matches.
Sindhu takes on Tai Tzu Ying-slayer
Fifth seed Sindhu will now face unseeded Minatsu Mitani of Japan, who booked her quarter-final berth after clinching an impressive win over world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in their R16 match on Thursday, September 14.
Mitani, the world number world number 19, has managed to beat Sindhu twice in their three previous meetings (Sindhu pulled out in last year's Korea Open first round). She will be high on confidence when she takes on the Indian shuttler on Friday after coming up with some fine performances in the ongoing tournament.
The 26-year-old Japanese shuttler accounted for in-form Kristy Gilmour in the opening round before edging past Tai in a tight encounter 23-21, 14-21, 21-18 to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the ongoing tournament.
On the other hand, Sindhu has not put a foot wrong yet in Seoul so far, having beaten Cheung Ngan Yi and Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games. The world number four is among the favourites to clinch the title, especially after the ousting of Tai and thus she would want to wrap up things quickly on Friday against Mitani.
Sameer faces stiff test
On the other hand, Sameer faces his biggest test of the ongoing tournament against world number one Son Wan Ho. However, he should take confidence from his straight game win over the top seed at India Open earlier this year.
The world number 25 has impressed so far in Seoul outclassing the likes of higher-ranked shuttler Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and Vincent Ki Wong en route the quarter-final. The Indian shuttler though needs to be on top of his game, both with the attack and defense if he is to stand a chance against Son, who is known for his all-round game.
Apart from the two singles matches, there will be Indian presence in the Men's doubles as well as the young pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty faces an uphill task against third seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda of Japan.
When do the matches start and how to watch it live
- Sameer Verma vs Son Wan Ho [1] - 1pm local time, 9:30am IST, 4am GMT
- PV Sindhu [5] vs Minatsu Mitani - Not before 4pm local time, 12:30pm IST, 7am GMT
India: TV: Star Sports 2. Live streaming: Hotstar
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
Singapore: TV: Star Hub. Live streaming: Starhub Go
China: TV: CCTV 5+
Worldwide live streaming: BWF YouTube channel [Not available in India]
