For what has been a watershed year for Indian badminton, PV Sindhu and K Srikanth have a chance to script the perfect climax when the prestigious season-ending Dubai Superseries Finals starts on Wednesday.
There are no easy games at the event where the best eight players in the world in the calendar year fight for the title. Having said that, world No 3 Sindhu has been given a fairly straight-forward draw. Sindhu, who had reached the semi-finals in the last edition, has been clubbed with the Japanese duo of No 2-ranked Akane Yamaguchi and world No 15 Sayako Sato, and world No 9 He Bingjiao in Group A.
The Rio silver medallist has had a good year, clinching the India Open and Korea Open Superseries titles, besides bagging a silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.
“It has been a good year for me. Now I really hope the year ends on a good note, and I do well at the Dubai Super Series Finals,” the 22-year-old from Hyderabad had said.
“It is not going to be easy as all the top players will be playing in this event. Each match from the first round itself will be very tough. So I will have to be prepared from the start to do well.”
The four players in each group will compete against each other in the preliminaries. The top two from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Here’s a detailed look at Sindhu’s group:
He Bingjiao
Sindhu begins her campaign against China’s He Bingjiao, who, despite being the second-lowest ranked player in the tournament, has the best head-to-head record against the Indian among all her opponents in the group stage. In their nine previous meetings, Sindhu has won four while her opponent has five wins to her name.
That record does add to the perception that, while Sindhu usually brings her A-game against the best opponents, she’s unpredictable when facing lower-ranked players. In their two meetings this year, both players have won one match each and both went the distance.
Sindhu triumphed in their latest meeting at the Korea Open semi-finals on her way to the title, while the Chinese upset her in the Asian badminton championships. Fair to say, Sindhu’s tournament will be shaped by how she fares against the plucky Chinese opponent.
Sayaka Sato
The Japanese is in Dubai only by the virtue of Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin pulling out of the event, and is undoubtedly the underdog for the women’s singles title. That puts her in a dangerous position of playing without pressure, and her talent is sufficient to pull off an upset or two.
Sindhu, though, enjoys a 2-1 upper-hand against her. Sindhu has won both their meetings this year, going to three games in Australia and winning in straight games (but in a highly competitive match) 24-22, 23-21 in their recent meeting in China.
Akane Yamaguchi
By far the toughest opponent in the group, and if Sindhu wants to avoid the winner of Group A, this match becomes a must-win. Yamaguchi has had a stellar campaign in terms of consistency, qualifying for Dubai with the highest tally of points in the destination rankings.
Though only one Superseries title came her way this year, Yamaguchi reached the finals of three others. She will start her campaign in Dubai in good form, having reached the last eight in Hong Kong after her sole triumph of the year in China.
Sindhu enjoys a good record against the second-best player in the world after Tai Tzu Ying, winning four of their six matches. In 2017, however, it’s all tied up 1-1.
Indian fans will also be sick of the sight of Yamaguchi, given she has been Saina Nehwal’s nemesis this year, defeating her in all four of their meetings. That adds a nice little side-story to what is the toughest match for Sindhu in the group stage.
(With PTI inputs)
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