Match: Tai Tzu Ying v Sung Ji Hyun
Date: 18 December, Sunday
Time: 6pm SGT/3:30pm IST/10am GMT
Competition: BWF World Superseries Finals 2016
Venue: Hamdan Sports Complex, Dubai
TV Coverage: There is no TV coverage in Singapore.
Live streaming: Hotstar, BWF's official YouTube channel.
Overview
Tai Tzu Ying and Sung Ji Hyun had faced each other on the same venue earlier in the title match of the Women's singles final of 2014 Superseries Finals. The then seventh ranked Taiwanese shuttler made light work of her higher-ranked opponent in straight games to win one of the biggest titles of her career.
Two years hence, in the ongoing tournament, the newly-crowned world number one is looking all set to repeat the 2014 performance. Tai needed only 51 minutes to outclass Chinese shuttler Sun Yu 21-19, 21-19 in the semi-final on Saturday.
The top seed entered the tournament on the back of winning the Hong Kong Open Superseries title. The in-form shuttler has been playing some of her best badminton in the recent past, winning titles in Indonesia and reaching the finals at Denmark, and has successfully carried the good form into the year-ending tournament.
However, after beating He Bingjiao and Ratchanok Intanon in her first two matches, she stumbled against her Sunday's opponent Sung in her final group encounter in straight games, which means the South Korean has a slight advantage over Tai.
Sung also won a crucial title at this month's Korea Masters, which would have helped in boosting her confidence, especially after she failed to get past the final stages on multiple occasions in the ongoing season.
On Saturday, Sung, who did not concede a game throughout the group stages, successfully battled past Rio Games silver medallist PV Sindhu 21-15, 18-21, 21-15. The 25-year-old South Korean seems to have assesed her opponent's strengths and weaknesses and is geared up for the title clash.
"It is my second final in Dubai, this time I will try to do better. Tai is good at attacking and deceptive play. I will be prepared for that," Sung said, as quoted by BWF's official website.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports HD 2
