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PV Sindhu vs Chen Yu Fei
Game 3:
China's Chen Yu Fei wins the match 20-22, 21-16, 21-12 and hands Sindhu her second consecutive defeat. It's all but over for Sindhu at the BWF World Tour Finals. If Akane Yamaguchi wins her match against Bing Jiao He, it will be the end of Sindhu's campaign. There is still a possibility of a three-way tie for the second spot and Sindhu nudging ahead if Bing Jiao wins tonight. Only just.
12-21: Chen wins.
11-16: Chen has literally pounced on a lapse from Sindhu. It will be difficult for Sindhu to make a comeback now.
11-14: A diving return followed by a powerful smash. Chen is holding all the aces at the moment.
11-12: A couple of unforced errors from Sindhu and things are back to being tense for the Indian.
11-10: Sindhu gets the crucial mid-game lead in the decider for a slight psychological advantage. She has gained lead for the first time in the third game.
10-10: Sindhu is hanging in there. She levels the score with a forceful body smash on her second attempt.
4-6: Chen is targeting the corners and making Sindhu run around.
It's a make or break game for Sindhu. She has to win the match to stay alive in the BWF World Tour Finals. If she fails to win, she has to hope for other results to work in her favour (including a win in her last group match) for a three-way tie and then possibly nudge ahead.
Game 2:
21-16: CHEN WINS GAME 2. Match to go into the decider. Sindhu saves two but it was too wide a gap to close.
14-20: Chen has six game points.
12-19: Some quick back-to-back points from Chen. She has all but sealed the second game. Sindhu is clearly exasperated with some of her judgement calls.
12-16: Sindhu snaps her opponent's four-point winning streak with a powerful smack to the right corner.
11-15: A super-competitive rally ends in Chen's favour. She follows it up with a body smash.
11-12: Sindhu is showing a lot of intent to close out shots. She wins a point with a clever back flick.
7-11: Chen has now won four successive points. Are we seeing a repeat of Sindhu's mid-match slump in form like the previous night?
7-7: Chen levels with an angled slap down across the court.
7-5: A quality rally ends with Sindhu's well-placed smash.
4-4: Sindhu began strongly in the second game, but Chen has caught up quite soon,
Game 1:
22-20: SINDHU WINS GAME 1: Chen was confident that shot was long from Sindhu. Sindhu challenges and gets lucky. It was just about grazing that back line! What a turnaround!
21-20: Another cross smash that sails wide from Chen. Game point for Sindhu.
20-20: Sindhu has levelled with a remarkable retrieve of a dying shot at the net.
19-20: Two back-to-back wide shots from Chen. Sindhu is hanging in there.
17-19: And Chen responds with a cross smash.
17-18: Not so easy, Chen. Sindhu is resorting to placement shots and gets three consecutive points to claw her way back in
12-17: The first game is slipping away from Sindhu. No sign of that characteristic retrieves and long rallies that we have grown so accustomed to seeing in a match featuring Sindhu.
FORM: Sindhu enjoys a 6-3 head-to-head record against Chen, but the Chinese player has been in a brilliant form this year, winning 60 matches and losing nine. But for the World Championship title, Sindhu has had a mediocre year with a win-loss record of 29-15.
8-11 - It's advantage Chen Yu Fei at the mid-game break.
8-9 - After letting Chen take an 8-4 lead, Sindhu has bridged the gap with some solid returns.
4-6 - No long rallies so far between the defending champion (Sindhu) and the most successful player on the BWF World Tour this year (Chen).
1-3 - Sindhu is looking a little edgy and has already changed her racquet after missing a simple smash.
- We are a few minutes away from the clash between China's Chen Yu Fei and P.V. Sindhu. It is a must-win game for Sindhu after losing from a winning position against Akane Yamaguchi on Wednesday.
- And Tai Tzu Ying wins! She takes the third and final game 21-16 against Intanon. Both the shuttlers now have one win and one loss from two matches in group B. Tomorrow, Tzu Ying will face Busanan Ongbamrungphan, while Ratchanok Intanon will take on group-leader Nozomi Okuhara.
- Tai Tzu Ying levels the scores after taking the second game 21-18. Decider time!
- Thailand's Intanon wins the first game 21-11 against Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
- The next match is a women's singles group B encounter between Ratchanok Intanon and World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
- Chou Tien-chen wins his second match of the tournament after sealing the third game 21-15 against Axelsen. Axelsen now has two losses in two outings.
- Chou Tien-chen takes the second game by the same scoreline. We're heading into the decider.
- Axelsen wins the first game 21-12 against Tien-chen.
- Next up, we'll have a men's singles group B match. Viktor Axelsen will take on Chou Tien-chen. Axelsen lost to Chen Long yesterday, while Chou Tien-chen beat Ginting.
- Okuhara wins her second game of the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals. She'll most likely advance to the semis. She beat her Thai opponent 21-12, 21-10.
- Okuhara takes the first game 21-12 against Ongbamrungphan.
- The next match is a women's singles group B match between Nozomi Okuhara and Busanan Ongbamrungphan. Okuhara beat Tai Tzu Ying yesterday, while Ongbamrungphan lost to Ratchanok Intanon.
- Ginting claims his first win of the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals after winning a one-sided third game 21-11 against Chen Long. Group B is wide open now.
- World No. 8 Anthony Ginting wins the first game 21-12 against World No. 4 Chen Long. Ginting had lost to Chou Tien-chen yesterday, while Long had defeated Axelsen. Both matches went to three games.
- The first singles match of the day is underway! It's a men's singles group B encounter between China's Chen Long and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.
Indian shuttler P V Sindhu opened her 2019 BWF World Tour Finals campaign with a 21-18, 18-21, 8-21 loss to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi. She will face China’s Chen Yu Fei in her second group A match today.
Sindhu had squandered a 11-6 lead in the second game to go down in 68 minutes to former World No. 1 Yamaguchi.
FULL REPORT | World Tour Finals: Defending champion Sindhu loses opening match to Yamaguchi
The 24-year-old Indian had gone into the match with a healthy 10-6 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi but she had lost to the Japanese in the previous two meetings this year.
Sindhu seemed in control in the first half of the match but a rearguard action by Yamaguchi saw her outwit the Indian with her athleticism and accuracy.
The first two games were evenly contested but Yamaguchi zoomed to a 16-4 lead in the third before Sindhu grabbed three points, but her series of unforced errors continued as the Japanese shuttler claim the important victory.
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