Not the best of days for India. PV Sindhu was first outplayed by An Se Young in the women’s singles semi-final. It was a pretty high quality but the third seeded Korean was in sublime form. A little later, Srikanth took the court and he delivered an inconsistent performance to go down to Christie.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 16-21: An error-strewn performance by Srikanth ends in defeat. Christie upping his level in the end and showing that he certainly wasn’t short of energy. The match took 49 minutes.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 15-20: Five match point! Another superb body smash that got no reply.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 15-19: Long rally, Christie bossing it and then he pushed an easy kill at the net long. A lifeline for Srikanth?
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 14-19: Five points in a row for Christie. This one a super smash down the line. Srikanth has been caught napping.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 14-15: Another smash into the net. Too many of them for Srikanth but he needs to be really careful now... heading into the business end of the second game.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 13-13: All even again. Srikanth finally upping his level and making it work. Errors are down, deception is up.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 10-12: Nice long rally – Srikanth playing patiently and getting his reward. Christie sends it wide. More of this needed.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 8-11: Lovely crosscourt winner takes Christie to the interval with a three-point advantage. Srikanth simply needs to cut down on his errors if he wants to come back into this match.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 6-8: But then a smash goes into the net and hands a point back to Christie. Story of the match so far. One good point followed by a poor one.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 6-7: Lovely defensive touch back into open court. Brings Srikanth back within one.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 3-7: No long rallies but plenty of mistakes from Srikanth. Needs to get his act together. Being a bit too passive.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21, 2-3: Christie jumped to 3-0 lead in the second game before he dumped a shot into the net. The Indonesian then sent a shuttle long.
Srikanth vs Christie, 19-21: Srikanth led for most of the game but Christie moved ahead in the end and took the game. A bit too many unforced errors for the Indian and that cost him the game in the end despite playing well for most part.
Srikanth vs Christie, 18-20: Three points in a row for Christie and he suddenly has two game points. He has sneaked when it matters most.
Srikanth vs Christie, 18-17: Lovely deception at the net by Srikanth with his crosscourt drop shot. Needs more of this and less of the casual errors.
Srikanth vs Christie, 15-15: Srikanth sends a smash into the net and we are even again. A tense period of play coming up.
Srikanth vs Christie, 13-11: Both players still making a lot of errors. We aren’t seeing as many winners as we are errors at this point. Srikanth still ahead though.
Srikanth vs Christie, 11-8: Nice three-point lead for Srikanth at the break. Both players still looking for their best rhythm. Christie can be a slow starter at times.
Srikanth vs Christie, 9-6: Three points on the trot thanks to some loose play by Christie. A three-point gap for Srikanth too. Badminton hasn’t always been of the highest quality so far.
Srikanth vs Christie, 6-6: Fine point by Christie. Moving Srikanth around the court and then finishing it off. It begins now.
Srikanth vs Christie, 6-4: Srikanth is moving well and has made a positive start. That is always a good thing. Allows you to just settle in a little better.
Srikanth vs Christie, 1-1: Steady start. These are players who have been around for a while and know each other well.
Men’s semi-final: Time for fifth seed Srikanth Kidambi vs third seed Jonatan Christie. They met in the Swiss Open semis two weeks back and Christie came out the winner there. The H2H is 4-4. It almost always is a tough fight.
We will now have the other women’s singles semi-final and after that Kidambi Srikanth will take to the court.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 17-21: A wonderful match by An Se Young who now has four wins out of four against PV Sindhu. She never really looked like losing and has won in straight games again. The match lasted 48 minutes. The first game was all ASY but Sindhu did fight hard in the second game.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 17-20: Three match points!
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 17-19: And ASY just went for it there. Seemed like a decent enough lift but her crosscourt smash caught Sindhu out.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 17-18: Three points in a row for Sindhu. Pressure.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 16-18: Just two points between them now. Sindhu giving it everything. She has to.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 14-17: A service error earned Sindhu one point but then ASY came back with a brilliant crosscourt smash to make the lead three points again.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 13-16: But ASY wins two points in a row. A bit too casual from Sindhu in defence and she pays the price.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 13-14: ASY had opened up a four-point lead but Sindhu having a good little period here to cut the gap to just one point.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 10-13: Sindhu wins a 32-shot rally. Nice drop shot to get the weak lift and then the quick over the head finish.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 9-11: An Se Young goes into the second game interval with a two-point gap. Much tighter game though but Sindhu under pressure.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 8-8: But An Se Young isn’t letting up either. She is staying close to Sindhu and not letting the points gap become too big. A proper battle this is becoming.
Vinayakk Mohanarangan: The way Sindhu played in the first 2/3rds of that opening game, I am willing to bet she would have taken it 21-8 or 21-10 or 21-12 against 90% of the players on tour. But An Seyoung takes it 21-14 instead. Just sheer brilliance.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 5-5: A much tighter start to the second game. Keeps Sindhu interested and motivated.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 4-5: Desperate defending from Sindhu gets the error out of ASY. She smashes it wide.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 3-4: Sindhu gets her judgment wrong. It drops just in and the Korean moves into the lead.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 3-3: ASY quickly closes the gap. All even again. Some sloppy play by the Indian.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21, 3-0: Sindhu starts the second game with three points on the trot. Looking to stay positive and aggressive. Will the change of ends help?
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 14-21: And the Korean takes the first game rather easily. She pulled away early and Sindhu was never able to close the gap. When Sindhu had the opportunity to smash, she grabbed it but there weren’t too many weak lifts from the Korean, who also defended amazingly well. Lots of work to be done for the Indian.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 12-20: Eight game points!
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 12-18: Sindhu fighting hard though but she is unable to string together enough points to put the Korean under pressure.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 9-15: Sindhu got a couple of points with some nice aggressive plays but ASY also finished a point off with a nice smash. The gap isn’t narrowing at the pace Sindhu would have wanted.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 7-14: Seven-point lead for the Korean and this is not looking good for Sindhu, who hasn’t quite managed to break down ASY’s defence.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 7-12: AN SE YOUNG! The range of shots she is playing is exceptional and she is defending brilliantly as well. Sindhu can only shake her head as the Korean wins another point.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 7-11: Sindhu gets a point back on resumption of play but she was made to work hard for it thanks to An Se Young’s great defence.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 6-11: A five-point lead going into the interval for the Korean. The second seed has started very well and her drop shot has troubled Sindhu.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 6-9: Nice from Sindhu. A steep smash to An Se Young’s backhand and it gets no reply.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 4-7: Three quick points for Sindhu and she needed them. An Se Young was pulling away at an alarming rate. The Indian needs to stay aggressive... can’t get sucked into An Se Young’s pace.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 1-7: What a point!!! Twice An Se Young dived to retrieve the shuttle in the 33-shot rally and finally she won it with a superb disguised drop shot. The noise!
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 1-5: Finally, Sindhu gets on the board. The crowd will support Se Young but some Indian fans around too. But it hasn’t been an easy start.
PV Sindhu v An Se Young, 0-3: Here we go. Important for Sindhu to stay aggressive and put the Korean under early pressure.
It is time: PV Sindhu and An Se Young are on the court, there will be a short warm-up and we will be all set. The Korean has a 3-0 H2H record against Sindhu and the Indian would love to change that today.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2022 Korea Open Super 500 in Suncheon. Today, India’s PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi will feature in the women’s and men’s semifinals respectively.
In the quarterfinals on Friday, Sindhu got the better of familiar foe Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 21-10, 21-16 while Srikanth outwitted South Korea’s Wan Ho Son 21-12, 18-21, 21-12 in a battle between two former world No 1s that lasted 62 minutes.