Fourth seed Carolina Marin takes on second seed Sung Ji Hyun in the Women's singles semi-final of 2017 Singapore Open on Saturday.
The reigning Olympic champion decimated her arch-rival PV Sindhu 21-11, 21-15 in just 35 minutes in the quarter-final yesterday, thereby avenging her defeat to the Indian shuttler at the final of India Open last month. On the other hand, South Korea's Sung made light work of China Sun Yu in straight games to reach her third consecutive semi-final of the new season.
The two shuttlers have been among the most consistent performers in 2017 and are also familiar with each other as they have battled seven times against each other in the past with Marin holding a 6-1 head-to-head record over Sung. While their recent meet came at Rio Olympics last year, the South Korean's only win came during 2015 German Open.
Head-to-head statistics are not in favour of Sung, who has been struggling to get past semi-final hurdles this season. The world number three has reached the last-four stages in all the Superseries events this year (All England, India Open, Malaysia Open) but Tai Tzu Ying (twice) and Sindhu (once) have stopped her progress.
It will be another uphill task for Sung against her higher-ranked opponent today as Marin looks hungry to end her post Rio Games title drought. The way she decimated Sindhu yesterday showcased her intent to go the distance in Singapore and the 23-year-old Spaniard has hit peak form early in the season, finishing as runner-up in India and Malaysia as well.
With a possible meeting against world number one Tai awaiting her on Sunday, Marin will be keen to not slip but reach the final and eye revenge yet again. Sung has her task cut out and yet another semi-final exit will only dampen her confidence.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports 2
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Singapore: StarHub Sports
