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There is no more doubt that PV Sindhu is back to form. The precision with which she dismantled the reigning All England Open champion Chen Yufei to reach the final of the Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Saturday speaks volumes of her courage and self-belief.
Sindhu is feeling motivated, mentally fresh and most importantly, thinking clearly -- something that went missing ever since she had her biggest career title win at the BWF World Tour Finals in December. In the seven tournaments that followed, Sindhu struggled both physically and mentally.
Even this week, she looked very tentative in her first couple of rounds and dropped a couple of games where she was expected to cruise through. It was only when she met old rival, Nozomi Okuhara that Sindhu re-discovered her touch and reflexes. And she carried it on into the semi-finals, playing a match cleaner than ever.
Up next is another very familiar face -- Akane Yamaguchi. The World No. 4 will be arriving for this match with the confidence of having won two titles at the Badminton Asia Championships and the German Open. The diminutive Japanese looked short of her usual rhythm and accuracy in her first round in Jakarta which led to her conceding a game to former Olympic champion Li Xuerui. But she recovered in style and even went on to demolish the World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the semi-finals.
Yamaguchi would be on a high after that big win. But she does have a reason to worry. She lost her last four matches to Sindhu, all of which happened in 2018. Seven months on from their previous meeting, would the result remain the same or would Yamaguchi be able to bring forth her stubborn defence and tire Sindhu much as she did at the World Superseries Finals final in 2017?
That remains to be seen.
Here is all you need to know about the Indonesia Open:
Tournament name: Blibli Indonesia Open 2019
Category: Super 1000
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Round: Final
Schedule of the match: (5) PV Sindhu vs (4) Akane Yamaguchi at approximately 1:30 pm IST on Sunday, July 21, 2019
Head-to-head: Sindhu leads 10-4
Where to watch the matches in India?
The Indonesia Open matches will be telecast live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD from July 17.
Live Stream Details and Info for the matches:
Live Stream for the matches is available on hotstar.com.
