Match: PV Sindhu v Sung Ji Hyun
Date: 17 December, Saturday
Time: 9pm SGT/6:30pm IST/1pm GMT (onwards)
Venue: Hamdan Sports Complex, Dubai
Competition: BWF World Superseries Finals, 2016
TV Channel: There is no live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live Streaming: Hotstar, Tournament's official YouTube channel
Overview
PV Sindhu needed a win in her final group match to keep her chances alive of making the semi-final in her maiden Supsereies Finals appearance. She was up against her arch rival Carolina Marin, against whom she lost the Women's singles final of the Rio Games.
The Indian shuttler came out on top as she beat Marin without breaking a sweat in straight games (21-17, 21-13). Sindhu thus finished above the Spaniard shuttler and Akane Yamaguchi and behind Sun Yu, who finished on top of the group.
Sindhu reportedly revealed that she was focussed on the task in hand and did not think about the Olympic final when she took the court against Marin, who failed to win even a single match on return from a two-month injury layoff in the ongoing tournament.
The world number 10 has achieved a lot of firsts in the ongoing season, including her first Olympic medal, maiden Superseries title and maiden year-ending tournament appearance and is only two wins away from claiming glory in Dubai.
Sindhu's recent form also makes her favourite in Saturday's clash. After winning the China Open and finishing as runner-up in Hong Kong, Sindhu has been in good form and has displayed no signs of fatigue despite playing draining encounters in the later half of the season.
Also, Sindhu has a positive head-to-head record (6-3) against her semi-final opponent Sung Ji Hyun, which includes three wins in 2016. However, the South Korean has turned it around since winning the Korea Masters title at home, which had boosted her morale ahead of the year-ending tournament.
Sung has been unbeaten so far in Dubai, having beaten the likes of Ratchanok Intanon, He Bingjiao and Tai Tzu Ying. With both the shuttlers having produced positive results in the recent past, it will all boil down to who can handle the nerves better on the big night.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports HD 2
