Fourth seed PV Sindhu takes on eighth seed He Bingjiao in the Women's singles quarter-final of 2017 Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan on Friday.
The world number three, who is the only Indian shuttler remaining in the continental tournament, made light work of China Masters champion Aya Ohori 21-14, 21-15 in the R16 clash yesterday.
On the other hand, Bingjiao eased past Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-13, 21-16 in just 35 minutes to make it to the last-eight round.
Sindhu and Bingjiao met four times last year, with the former winning three of those clashes including their last meeting at 2016 China Open. However, the 20-year-old Chinese shuttler has an overall advantage of 4-3 over the Indian.
Notably, Bingjiao had eased past Sindhu in the second round of French Open last year in straight games, enroute to the title. However, the world number seven, who hit peak form with two Superseries titles (Japan and France) after the Rio Games last year, has struggled to make an impact in the new season with early exits in All England, Malaysia and Singapore.
On the other hand, Sindhu opened the season with a title at Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and went on to win India Open Superseries, which was also her second major title after China Open win last year. She faced disappointments in Malaysia and Singapore but the Rio Olympic silver medallist has looked in good nick in Wuhan so far.
The 21-year-old will start as favourite to reach the semi-final, but she cannot afford to take Bingjiao lightly as the young Chinese shuttler, who knows Sindhu's game quite well, will be looking to make amends for a bad start to the new season.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports
Malaysia: Astro Supersport 4
Singapore: Hub Sports
China: CCTV 5+
