After a poor performance from the male shuttlers in the All England Open, the onus falls on female shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal to deliver the goods in the competition. Both the Indian players have qualified for the quarter-finals of All England Open, but a tough test awaits them in the round of eight.
Read: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu enter quarterfinals
Saina is set to face South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Sindhu has set up a date with top seed Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals. If both Saina and Sindhu manage to win their respective encounters, one will witness an all-India semi-final encounter on Saturday.
Former world number one Saina started the All England Open with a bang, defeating the defending champion Nozomi Okuhara, and looked good against Fabienne Deprez in the second round. Her clash against Sung Ji will be Saina's biggest test in the competition.
However, Saina will go into this match confident as the Hyderabad girl enjoys a great record against Sung Ji, who has only defeated the Indian once so far in her career. Saina has defeated Sung Ji six times, but she is well aware that the All England Open is going to be a different affair.
Sung Ji loves to play an attacking brand of badminton, and when she gets going, Saina might find it tough. Hence, Saina need to be on top of her game throughout the match.
The other quarters clash between Sindhu and Tai Tzu could be a brilliant encounter, where both the players have been on the rise since last year. Tai Tzu has become world number one, while Sindhu is sixth in the world rankings.
Tai Tzu has a better head-to-head record against Sindhu, with the former defeating the Rio Olympics silver medallist five times and losing thrice. The two shuttlers met thrice last year, and Sindhu's only win came in the Rio Olympics, which reflects that the Indian comes up with great badminton in major competitions. The same will be required in the All England Open quarterfinals on Friday.
Though Sindhu is known for a strong and aggressive game, she has to be careful with Tai Tzu's fast hands and quick shots at the net, which could trouble the Indian. The match has all the ingredients of a classic encounter, and the fans at the Barclaycard Arena could witness a quality game.
Where to watch live
PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying is set for 4 pm local time (9.30 pm IST) start, while Saina Nehwal vs SUng Ji Hyun is tentatively scheduled for 5 pm local time, ( 10.30 pm IST). Here are the live streaming and TV options.
India: TV: Star Sports 2/HD. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel Play.
The UK: TV: BBC. Live Streaming: BBC iPlayer
Indonesia: TV: Fox Sports.
Singapore: TV: Starhub.
Live Scores: All England Open official website
