The ongoing 2015 World Badminton Championship is just a few days old and badminton fans around the world are waiting for the pre-quarters clash between two top shuttlers, PV Sindhu and Li Xuerui, which takes place on Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Match Report: Sindhu defeats Li Xuerui
Li Xuerui, 24, has accomplished a number of things at such an early stage, including gold medal in the 2012 Olympic Games, Asian championships, Uber Cup amongst a number of other BWF titles. Hence, it is no surprise when fans and experts refer her as one of the major contenders for the 2015 world championship.
The third seed Chinese received a bye in the first round and put up a clinical performance against Petya Nedelcheva in the second round with the score reading 21-10 and 21-11. But, her pre-quarters opponent did not have an impressive outing in her last match against Line Kjaersfeldt, who won the first set.
Sindhu had to bring all her experience and class into play to defeat the Danish player in three sets. The score read 11-21, 21-17 and 21-16. Sindhu is aware of the huge task with Li Xuerui on the other side of the same court on Thursday.
This clash between the two shuttlers was expected as soon as the draw had been announced. Even Sindhu was aware of the tough draw she had encountered.
Despite the stature of Li Xuerui, PV Sindhu is not going to be dwarfed by her achievements so far, as the Indian can draw inspiration from her 2012 China Masters performance, where she outplayed Li Xuerui and won the game.
There is no doubt about the quality of PV Sindhu, who is an aggressive player, but needs to come up with some deft touches at the net against the top Chinese shuttler. Li Xuerui, who is an intelligent and a smart mover on the court, will be eager to exploit Sindhu's weakness in defence, which has been a major cause of concern.
Injuries have been another major concern, but PV Sindhu has come into this tournament after some good training and will be eager to defeat Li Xuerui and strive for another medal in the world badminton championship.
Where to Watch Live
Some big matches are in store on Thursday in the ongoing 2015 World Badminton Championships, which is scheduled for 11am local time (9:30 am IST) and Star Sports 4/HDwill offer live coverage for viewers in India with live streaming on starsports.com.
PV Sindhu vs Li Xuerui Live match is scheduled for 12 pm local time (10:30 am IST).
Viewers around the world can follow the game online on Badminton World TV.
Live scorecard of all the matches can be followed here.
