Tai Tzu Ying and other hurdles: Decoding PV Sindhu’s chances at BWF World Tour Finals

It could be a tough week for PV Sindhu at the BWF World Tour Finals 2018 unless she is at her imperious best. This is her third outing at this prestigious year-ender and she has kept improving every time.

From a semi-final finish in 2016 to a narrow loss in the final last year, Sindhu has always managed to raise the bar. Having had to endure a defeat in an absolute nail-biter to Akane Yamaguchi at the summit clash in 2017, it is logical to expect the India No. 1 to aim for nothing less than the title this time around.

However, her attempt might get foiled early as her group isn’t as comfortable as she would have liked. Sindhu is in Group A that is headed by the irrepressible World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, and also has the defending champion Yamaguchi as well as her nemesis, Beiwen Zhang.

Apart from the Japanese, Sindhu doesn’t have a lead over the others as far as the head-to-head records are concerned. Having Tai in the same group is absolutely not desirable for someone who has succumbed to the Chinese Taipei ace in 10 out of their 13 meetings.

Ever since her win over Tai at the Rio Olympics, Sindhu hasn’t been able to master the Taipei shuttler, falling to her six times consecutively. The closest she came to snapping the losing streak was at the Australian Open last year when she held a match point but failed to convert it.

Tai is adept at moving the tall Sindhu all over the court and grabbing points through her superb deception at the net. And that is one area where the Indian has lagged behind every time she has met Tai in the past couple of years.

Sindhu’s Asian Games showdown with Tai was even more one-sided. That doesn’t raise much hope of an Indian victory unless the top-ranked player is below her standard level and Sindhu avoids making too many mistakes.

Beiwen Zhang is another player who has been causing a lot of problems for the Indian of late. The American robbed the Indian of a title at home at the India Open in February, which began Sindhu’s woes in finals this year. Despite holding a match point, the Indian went down in three gruelling games to lose the first of her five finals in 2018.

Sindhu is tied 3-3 with Zhang with the World No. 16 inflicting another defeat on Sindhu later in the year at the Denmark Open. The World No. 6 did exact revenge soon after in her next match at the French Open, but there is little doubt that Zhang poses a huge threat for Sindhu every time they cross swords.

The only player in this group whom Sindhu should ideally be able to beat is Yamaguchi. In a repeat of last year’s final, the two meet again in the opening women’s singles match at the Tianhe Gymnasium - 1 on December 12.

Pusarla has emerged victorious the last three times they have met, holding an overall lead of 9-4 over the World No. 2. All the odds should be stacked in her favour going by that record.

Having said that, there still remains some concern over Sindhu’s form. In a season where the Indian has entered 16 events, trying to take time off and recover from niggles has been quite an issue. The hectic weeks of travelling and high-level play clearly took a toll on Sindhu’s physical and mental well-being, triggering her second-round loss in Hong Kong.

Sindhu looked spent and short of ideas, unable to move as freely as she usually does. Opting to not defend her Syed Modi International title was a sagacious decision and it remains to be seen if that hard-earned rest has reinvigorated the India No. 1.

It is to her benefit that she opens her campaign against Yamaguchi, who, on paper, looks the easiest of the three opponents for Sindhu in such a packed group. If she can get a win over the Japanese in her very first match at the World Tour Finals, the confidence boost can take her a long way.

But for that, Sindhu simply cannot afford to take Yamaguchi lightly.