BWF World Tour Finals – Sindhu beats Yamaguchi– Indian badminton ace & double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu beat Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a 3-set thriller. She overcame her past records to make it to the finals. The 26-year-old will next face An Se Young of Korea. This is only her second final after the Swiss Open in 2021. She had earlier crashed out in the French Open and Indonesia Open semifinals. Follow InsideSport.IN for LIVE updates.
Lakshya Sen vs Viktor Axelsen: Youngster Lakshya Sen lost to Olympic champion and current World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the tournament semifinals. He did win hearts with excellent feet movements but lost the game in straight sets. The winner, Viktor Axelsen, will play Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the finals on Sunday.
BWF World Tour Finals LIVE: PV Sindhu beats Yamaguchi to enter final against An Se Young, Lakshya Sen crashes out
Men’s Singles Semfinals: Lakshya Sen (IND) lost to Viktor Axelsen (DEN):
The Olympic champion overwhelmed Sen by 21-13, 21-11 in just 39 minutes. The Danish shuttler will now face Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the summit clash on Sunday. The Thai shuttler, three-time junior world champion, in the first semi-final defeated All England champion Lee Zii Jia by 21-18, 21-18.
The Danish shuttler wasted no time as he got off the blocks quickly and clinched an 11-7 lead in the first mid-game interval. The powerful smashes from the world number one left Indian strained on the other side of the court. Axelsen continued with his domination and took the first game by 21-13.
The second game was absolutely lethal from Axelsen as he continued the demolition of the Indian. With an 11-1 lead at the second mid-game break for the Danish shuttler, Sen focused on damage limitation. The 20-year-old showed some grit and resistance as he reached the double figures in points. However, Axelsen soon closed the game and match with 10 points lead.
2nd set
- 21-11 Viktor Axelsen wins
- 18-9 to Viktor Axelsen, the winner plays Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand
- 8-15 Lakshya Sen is obviously winning heart if not the game
- 15-6 Regardless of Lakshya Sen’s brilliant shot, it’s Viktor Axelsen who is apparently heading to the finals
- 5-14 Lakshya Sen dives on the court, stand right on time to stun everyone
- 2-12 Some Respite for Lakshya Sen
- 8-1 to Victor Axelsen, the Danish is firing on all the cylinders. Lakshya Sen at point of no return
- 4-1 to Victor Axelsen, challenging battle for Lakshya Sen
- 1-0 to Victor Axelsen
1st set
- 21-13 First set to Viktor Axelsen
- 11-16 Slow passage of play with the duo looking a little bit tired. Lakshya Sen unable to control his aggression.
- 9-12 Lakshya Sen is looking promising, can he reduce the deficit?
- 10-5 Vicktor Axelsen is using his height to full advantage
- 6-3 Lakshya Sen is extremely quick on his feet but Viktor Axelsen is just too good
- 2-2 Opening set begins on an equal note for Lakshya Sen & Viktor Axelsen
Lakshya vs Axelsen LIVE: India has high hopes from debutant Lakshya Sen after Kidambi Srikanth failed to make it to the semifinals. The 20-year-old will play Olympic Champion and a very tough opponent in form of Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
In their last meeting in the tournament, Lakshya was completely outplayed by Axelsen’s sharp skills.
The Danish shuttler makes good use of his height to hit powerful smashes. Lakshya will have to minimize those opportunities to Dane if he wants to compete well in the match.
- Viktor Axelsen leads the head-to-head record 3-0 against the 20-year-old Indian shuttler.
- Sen was defeated 15-21, 14-21 by Axelsen in the group stage fixture at the BWF World Tour Finals.
- Viktor Axelsen is currently ranked No.1 in the BWF World Rankings while Lakshya Sen is not even in the top 10.
Kick-off: 5.55 PM IST
Women’s Singles Semifinals: PV Sindhu (IND) beat Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
PV Sindhu will next face Korea’s An Seyoung, who beat Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 25-23, 21-17 in the other semifinal, in the summit clash on Sunday.
It will be Sindhu’s third final appearance in the season-ending tournament. She had won the title in 2018 to become the only Indian to achieve the feat.
The world number 7 Indian had come into the match with an overall head-to-head win-loss record of 12-8 against the world number three Japanese.
Sindhu has been in fine form after picking up a bronze in the Tokyo Olympics. She had reached the semifinals in her last three events — French Open, Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open — before coming into the BWF World Tour Finals.
She had finished runner-up in the Swiss Open in March.
But it won’t be easy for Sindhu in the final against Seyoung who had come into the season-ending tournament with back-to-back titles in the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open.
The world number six Seyoung had also beaten Sindhu in the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open in October.
3rd set
- 21-19 to Sindhu, set to face Korean An Se Young in final
- 20-19 for Sindhu, celebrates in style with a cheer, game yet to be over.
- 19-18 for Yamaguchi, amazing courage to go on to lead
- 17-17 Incredible from Yamaguchi, 5 points deficit comes to an end
- 15-17 Yamaguchi tries to spoil PV Sindhu’s party, deciding moments of the game.
- 17-12 Sindhu looking set to win this game and enter the finals against Korean An SeYoung
- 16-12 Yamaguchi’s challenge unsuccessful as the shuttle lands out of the line
- 13-11 Nervous and tension with scoreboard pressure from Sindhu
- 8-12 Yamaguchi begins her fightback with a hat-trick of points
- 12-5 to Sindhu, Yamaguchi apparently at the point of no return
- 10-5 Sindhu leaves Yamaguchi in tatters, begins to impose herself in the deciding game
- 7-5 to Sindhu, sharp game from Sindhu in a long rally.
- 3-3 The one who is going to keep her nerves calm is going to win this game
- 2-1 Sindhu expresses her intention, she is back in the lead
- 1-0 to Yamaguchi, starts off brilliantly against under pressure Sindhu
- A big challenge from Sindhu, she has lost her last game in the semifinals in French Open and Indonesia Open. Can she change the stats?
2nd set
- 21-15 Yamaguchi wins 2nd set
- 20-15 First rally of the match, Sindhu did well to stay in the rally
- 17-13 Yamaguchi looks all set to take this set.
- 12-14 Excellent defense from Sindhu, turns straight block into cross court.
- 12-10 Beautiful defensive play on display from Yamaguchi.
- 10-10 the evenly poised set looks like a cat and mouse battle as Sindhu and Yamaguchi producing their best on the field.
- 8-8 Brain fade from Yamaguchi, Sindhu gets the benefit of the doubt. The ball wouldn’t have crossed the line for the Japanese.
- 7-6 Yamaguchi firing on all the cylinders, fights back against Sindhu
- 5-4 the second set is evenly poised. Yamaguchi needs to win this game to stay in the contest.
- 2-1 to PV Sindhu, can she overcome her past in this set. She is yet to win her 2nd set in the last few semifinals at French Open and Indonesia Open.
1st set
- 21-15 Set 1 to clinical Sindhu. A set away from making it to her 2nd final in 2021 after the Swiss Open.
- 17-14 World No.7 Sindhu dominating 3rd ranked Yamaguchi, she can’t lose from here? Fingers crossed
- 16-14 Smash from Sindhu who looks determined to take this set, Yamaguchi loses control
- 15-13 Excellent game awareness from Sindhu, lets it go over the line
- 13-12 Yamaguchi trying to get back in the game, Sindhu needs to be on her A-game.
- 12-9 Sindhu still holds the lead with a brilliant backhand on-court display
- 9-7 Sindhu looking good against Yamaguchi, should go on to win this set
- 7-6 Sindhu takes the lead with brilliant feet movement which we have not witnessed in the last few semifinal appearances.
- 4-4 Sindhu levels up against Yamaguchi after falling behind 2-4 in the opening set.
Sindhu vs Yamaguchi LIVE: PV Sindhu has been India’s best player in the last few years. The two-time Olympic medalist has made it to the semifinals of the last two events but failed to make it big.
However, she will have a chance once again to repeat her performance from the 2018 World Tour Finals where she had emerged champion.
Sindhu will lock horns against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, who has won all her three group games and has looked in phenomenal touch. Meanwhile, Sindhu lost her last group stage game to Chochuwong.
- PV Sindhu leads the head-to-head record 10-8 against the Japanese shuttler.
- In their last meet at the Indonesia Masters, Yamaguchi had defeated Sindhu 21-13, 21-9.
- Akane Yamaguchi is ranked at No. 3 in BWF World Rankings while Sindhu is placed at No. 7 position.
BWF World Tour Final LIVE streaming- India:
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BWF World Tour Finals LIVE: PV Sindhu beats Yamaguchi to enter final against An Se Young, Lakshya Sen crashes out
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