BWF World Tour Finals 2018 Badminton Live: Sameer Verma vs Tommy Sugiarto Live score & Updates | 13th December 2018

Verma def Sugiarto 21-16, 21-7 in 39 minutes.

Updated: 13 December 2018 09:30 IST - Published: 13 December 2018 01:25 IST

And that brings us to the end of our live coverage for now.

Do join us later in the day for PV Sindhu's match. She plays World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in a tough match today which is scheduled to start at 3.30pm IST.

We'll be back then.

This will boost his chances of making it through to the semi-finals.

What a performance this was from the young Indian!

He now takes a 2-1 lead over Sugiarto in their head-to-head record.

In their last encounter, Verma suffered a one-sided loss to Sugiarto and that was less than six months ago.

But now Sameer is an absolutely different version. He believes he belongs to the big league. That is exactly what helped him shrug off yesterday's loss to Kento Momota to come back and get the win today.

Also the fact that the 30-year-old Indonesian played a marathon 1 hour 29 minute match yesterday, gave Sameer a slight advantage, if any.

Final score: Verma def Sugiarto 21-16, 21-7 in 39 minutes.

It's complete!

Sameer gets his first ever win at the BWF World Tour Finals!!!!!!

20-7

Sameer has 13 match points now.

It's 18-7 for the Indian here.

Only 3 points needed for his first ever win at this prestigious tournament.

It's 16-6 to the Indian.

The difference is now of 10 points!

Sugiarto looks to have given up for the moment. Finding it too difficult to counter Sameer who looks poised and hungry for the win.

Sameer picks up from where he left.

It's 2 more points for the Indian here!

Up 13-6

11-6 for Verma at the time of the midgame interval.

It's 10-6 for the Indian now.

He is looking to finish in straight games. Can he?

And he keeps maintaining the advantage.

Sameer 8-6

Verma's alertness and defence have been top notch.

He takes four points in a row to go up to 7-5.

This time Sugiarto looks determined to keep adding points and separate himself from the Indian.

He is up 5-3

And Sameer draws level at 3-3

It's a 3-1 lead for the Indonesian!

Second game:

It is 1-1

And Sameer doesn't waste any precious time!

He banks on pure aggression and speed to take the next two points as well!

First game to Verma at 21-16.

It's 19-16 to Verma!

2 points away from taking the game!

Sameer comes out on top of a long rally thanks to his incredible defence.

He inches ahead to 18-16

Sugiarto now trails by one point only!

16-17

This is getting tighter!

Once again the Indonesian fought back to make it a two-point gap between them but the Indian added another point to lead 17-14

Sameer shows a lot more calm and steady approach to extend the gap between them.

He is now at 15-12

Another crucial point for Sugiarto.

Sameer is now 13-11 up

Sugiarto is now looking to close the gap.

He now trails 10-13

After the break, they take one point each.

Sameer 12-8

At the midgame interval, Verma has an advantage of four points at 11-7.

Two more quick points for Verma here...he is up 10-6

This time Verma packs a punch!

With two points on the trot he moves ahead to 8-6

Sameer won't let him go ahead and makes it 6-6

This is a highly competitive affair in the initial stages.

Sugiarto once more inches ahead by one point at 6-5

Sameer has drawn level at 4-4

Good morning! The match has begun and Sugiarto takes a tiny 3-2 lead.

Welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of Sameer Verma's second match at the BWF World Tour Finals 2018. The World Tour Finals debutant lost his first match to the World No. 1 Kento Momota 18-21, 6-21 on Wednesday.

He now faces Indonesia's 30-year-old Tommy Sugiarto in his second match on Thursday. The two are tied 1-1 in their head-to-head encounters with the Indonesian getting an easy win in their most recent showdown. And that should give him a slight edge on paper. Having said that, Sugiarto played a 1 hour 29 minute marathon on Wednesday, which could take a toll on his body.

Sameer needs to be ready to exploit that. He needs to show the kind of mental strength that he displayed when he qualified for this event at the very last minute by successfully defending his title at the Syed Modi International.

Stay tuned for live updates from this match.