Here’s how the second game panned out:
An Seyoung 21-16, 21-12 PV Sindhu: Couple of match pints saved but Sindhu misses a net shot. Oh to SEYOUNG! A title hat-trick in Bali.
An Seyoung 21-16, 20-10 PV Sindhu: Terrific net play from Sindhu but ASY is there. She is always there. 10 match points.
An Seyoung 21-16, 16-10 PV Sindhu: ASY is going on another mazy run of points. Sindhu has the serve back after an error from ASY but gives it back from a missed smash. Pressure does this. Excellent net play by the Indian next point. “We can rely on the fact that Sindhu will never stop fighting,” says Gill Clark.
An Seyoung 21-16, 11-8 PV Sindhu: Sindhu is really, really not playing badly at the moment. An Seyoung still winning the points. And, Morten Frost just said this on air about An Seyoung: “I wouldn’t really be surprised if on December 19 in Spain this young lady in red is crowned the world champion”
An Seyoung 21-16, 8-6 PV Sindhu: Some lovely exchanges at the moment from both players. Sindhu has found a nice rhythm, staying longer in points. A wrong challenge and then a little later, a lift goes long as ASY sneaks back ahead.
An Seyoung 21-16, 4-5 PV Sindhu: Nice even start to the second game. Sindhu relying on faster, flatter exchanges. She needs to find a lot more angles, and keep targetting ASY’s backhand. A good challenge from Sindhu, that’s handy.
An Seyoung 21-16 PV Sindhu: Fantastic all-round game from An Seyoung. So good on defence, she has always been. But her attacking game has gone to another level recently. Sindhu recovered well, can hopefully take some momentum to game 2
An Seyoung 21-16 PV Sindhu: A body smash doing the damage again and An Seyoung eventually closes out the opening game at 16. But better signs from Sindhu towards the latter half of that game.
An Seyoung 20-16 PV Sindhu: Four game points saved by Sindhu... ASY sends a lift long.
An Seyoung 20-15 PV Sindhu: One game point saved, all out from Sindhu at ASY’s body. The Korean fails to kill a net shot and another game point saved. Terrific 1-2 from Sindhu with the crosscourt smash and punch-clear to set up another winner. Nice little run for the Indian.
An Seyoung 20-12 PV Sindhu: Crosscourt goes wide and game points galore for ASY.
An Seyoung 19-12 PV Sindhu: Another smash to ASY’s backhand that works for Sindhu, just hasn’t had enough chances to exploit that. Superb point from Sindhu next to play a lovely drop followed by a nice clear into the open court.
The previous point was the longest rally at 29 shots. Sindhu receives the serve well and gets to double digits.
An Seyoung 19-9 PV Sindhu: A good punch-clear from Sindhu lands in, a rare mistake from ASY in this game. Sindhu has the serve back... a long rally ensues and this time the clear is long.
An Seyoung 17-8 PV Sindhu: The contest is a bit more even now, better shot quality from Sindhu too but it is still nowhere near enough. ASY putting on quite the show.
An Seyoung 13-8 PV Sindhu: A nice drop at the net by Sindhu, for a change catches ASY off guard. The Korean then nails a series of attacking shots at Sindhu to close out a rally. Couple of errors from the Korean after that and a small window opens for Sindhu.
An Seyoung 11-5 PV Sindhu: What a start for the teenager. ASY is one step ahead of Sindhu in rallies it seems, the moment the Indian is about execute a move... the Korean is there.
An Seyoung 9-5 PV Sindhu: An Seyoung has made a great start to this match and you can already see why she has been in such great form recently. Great control on attack and defence. Sindhu trails 4-9. There is no evident weakness for the Korean, really. Sindhu needs her attacking game to be on point.
An Seyoung 5-4 PV Sindhu: Another lovely downward crosscourt from Sindhu. We saw a lot of that yesterday too. Puts ASY’s backhand under pressure with a smash. Sindhu needs a lot of those, says former world No 1 Morten Frost on air.
An Seyoung 5-2 PV Sindhu: Sindhu started at the far side yesterday as well and it helped her in the end, but she needs a run of points here quickly. Similar start to the semis. She gets on board with a lovely crosscourt. ASY then sends a straight smash wide.
An Seyoung 4-0 PV Sindhu: Wow, that’s a fast start from the Korean. And she is letting Sindhu know it as well. Four very short points.
PV Sindhu 0-0 An Seyoung: ASY to serve. Sindhu chose sides we are told.
PV Sindhu is yet to beat the 19-year-old An Seyoung in two attempts. Sindhu is actually yet to take game off the Korean. Today is a big match. And we know how Sindhu loves a big match.
12.27 pm: There are three matches where a Bali hat-trick of titles were at stake. First in women’s doubles, the Korean pair of Kim/Kong, clearly so much fresher from having a break on semifinals day, have ended the hat-trick hopes for Matsuyama/Shida. Rather surprisingly short WD final. And now a little while earlier, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai have done it. What a year! Stunning, a hat-trick of titles in Thailand at the start of the year followed by a hat-trick in Bali at the end of the year. A somersault from Sapsiree to celebrate the feat.
Now over to An Seyoung who is also on a hat-trick.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the BWF World Tour Finals. Reigning world champion PV Sindhu will be taking on the in-form South Korean teenager An Seyoung in the women’s singles final.
Sindhu entered the summit clash with a hard-fought win over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semifinals. The two-time Olympic medallist defeated Yamaguchi 21-15 15-21 21-19 in a thrilling match.
In the other semi-final, An Seyoung beat Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 25-23 21-17.
It promises to be a tough test for Sindhu as the Korean is looking for her third title in three weeks in Bali, having earlier clinched Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open without dropping a single game. She also has a 2-0 record against Sindhu. The Indian who has won this tournament in the past once, will be looking to step up her game, as she does, for a big match to defeat one of the most in-form shuttlers in the world at the moment.
Screenshots courtesy Disney+Hotstar and Tournament Software