Sindhu in successive BWF Final title contest; Sameer loses out

Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu stormed her way into the final match of the World Tour Finals for second time on the trot, defeating former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon in straight games while debutane Sameer Verma’s run in the men’s singles ended on Saturday here.

Sindhu defeated her Thai opponent 21-16, 25-23 to remain unbeaten against her in the last two years, while Verma, lost 21-12, 20-22, 17-21 to All England Champion and World Championship silver medalist silver medalist Shi Yuqi.

Olympics silver medalist Sindhu has faced anxious moments in 2018, inviting criticism from some quarters due to her final matches loses at Worlds, Jakarta Games and other Super Series tournaments. Her entry into yet another final now gives her a golden chance to finish the year on a high. She will face Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the title contest to revenge her last year’s World Championship final’s defeat to her.

The first game between Sindhu and Intanon looked neck and neck in the start with the two leveled at 7-7. The Indian then bagged three back to back points owing to unforced errors made by Intanon and went into the lemon break with an 11-9 lead. Intanon narrowed Sindhu’s lead to 15-14 but continued making errors to give away the game 21-16 to the Indian.

In the second game, the Hyderabad shuttler won four points in a row but Intanon bounced back to give Sindhu and bring the gap down to 7-6 and later take a slender 11-10 lead before the mid-break. The two kept on exchanging lead as match remained leveled at 23-23 until Sindhu capitalised on two match points to take the game 25-23.