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PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the semifinals of the ongoing BWF World Tour Finals in Bali on Thursday. The second day of the season-ending premier tournament brought mixed success to the Indian camp.
While PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the knock-out stage, Srikanth and the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy faced defeat. Srikanth is still in contention but Ashwini and Sikki are out of the competition after their second consecutive defeat.
In another blow to Indian fans, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have pulled out of the tournament due to injury. The ace Indian doubles combination gave a walkover to top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia.
Second straight win for PV Sindhu
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu booked her place in the last four with a second straight win in Group A. The reigning world champion thumped Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-10, 21-13 in just 31 minutes.
Sindhu had downed Denmark’s Line Christophersen 21-14, 21-16 in a match that lasted 38 minutes on Wednesday to begin her campaign on a high.
With this easy win, the World No. 7 maintained her perfect record against the German player, ranked 24th in the world. In last week’s Indonesia Open at the same venue, Sindhu defeated Yvonne Li 21-12, 21-18 in their first-ever meeting.
The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist will now take on top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the third and final group outing on Friday. Sindhu leads 4-2 in the head-to-head record against the World No. 10 Thai player.
Lakshya Sen becomes third Indian to reach men’s singles semis of BWF World Tour Finals
Lakshya Sen lost his match against Viktor Axelsen in straight games but qualified to play in the semifinals from Group A. Two other players from the four-member group, Kento Momota of Japan and Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke, have pulled out due to injuries.
By reaching the semis, Lakshya joined the list of two Indian players who managed to advance to the knockouts earlier. Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma had earlier played in the semis of the BWF World Tour Finals.
The World No. 21 suffered his third loss in a row against Tokyo Olympic champion and World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen. Lakshya put up a brave effort but lost 15-21, 14-21 in 46 minutes.
The 20-year-old played reasonably well but was often caught off-balance in rallies by Axelsen. The tall Dane was almost never really troubled while completing a hat-trick of wins against the young Indian shuttler.
Lakshya was scheduled to play against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke on Friday but will get a much-needed rest before his Saturday semis.
However, Srikanth lost his second Group B game in the men’s singles event after starting his campaign with a win on Wednesday. The World No. 14 lost to Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 18-21, 7-21 in a 46-minute battle.
Srikanth will cross swords with second seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in their third and final group outing in Group B on Friday. The former World No. 1 Srikanth has to win against the Malaysian to seal the semifinal spot.
In their only previous meeting so far at the Hylo Open 2021 last month, World No. 8 Lee Zii Jia edged out Srikanth 21-19, 22-20.
Indian Results (Day 2)
Men’s singles
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth lost to Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) 18-21, 7-21 (46 minutes)
Group A: Lakshya Sen lost to 1-Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) 15-21, 14-21 (46 minutes)
Women’s singles
Group A: PV Sindhu bt Yvonne Li (Germany) 21-10, 21-13 (31 minutes)
Men’s doubles
Group A: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty gave a walkover to 1-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia)
Women’s doubles
Group B: Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy lost to Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bulgaria) 19-21, 20-22 (53 minutes)
Indians in action on Friday (Day 3)
Men’s singles
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth vs 2-Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia)
Women’s singles
Group A: PV Sindhu vs 1-Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand)
Women’s doubles
Group B: Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy vs Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith (England).
