This is the first time two Indian shuttlers are going to end up on the podium of a BWF World Championships edition as both Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu have qualified for the semi-final of the ongoing Glasgow meet, thereby assuring themselves of at least a Bronze. [Folllow live blog]
The two Indian stars have had contrasting routes to the last-four stages.
Sindhu, the fourth seed and a two-time Bronze medallist, was in fine form as she demolished her last eight opponent, fifth seed Sun Yu of China, in straight games 21-14, 21-9 in just 39 minutes.
On the other hand, 12th seed Saina had to sweat hard to get past local hope and 16th seed Kristy Gilmour 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 during her quarter-final outing yesterday.
Also, It was delightful to see a fit-again Saina come up with a ruthless display of badminton against second seed Sung Ji Hyun in the R16 on Thursday, August 24. The win against the world number three would have given the 27-year-old a lot of confidence, especially after her early-season troubles owing to the knee injury she suffered at the 2016 Rio Games.
Saina makes shocking claim
Saina was more relieved than happy after her quarter-final win over Gilmour yesterday. The former world number one even conceded that she should not have travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the Games last year with the persistent knee issue.
"Only I know what I went through. I shouldn't have gone to Rio, I didn't know I had a major injury. The belief of my parents and coach helped me get back. I still have tendonitis in the (right) knee," Saina said, as quoted by the Times of India.
Who is Chen Yufei, Sindhu's opponent
Start time
PV Sindhu vs Chen Yufei is the last match of Saturday and it will not start before 8pm local time/12:30am IST (Sunday).
Sindhu will fight for a spot in the final against 19-year-old Chen Yufei of China, who has blasted out top seed Akane Yamaguchi and former champion Ratchanok Intanon.
Chen is the 2016 world junior champion as well and she has made a smooth transition from junior to senior level. The ninth seed showed her class when she came back from behind to beat Intanon in a hardly-fought quarter-final encounter 14-2, 21-16, 21-12 on Friday.
Notably, Chen has also beaten Sindhu in their last meeting at the Malaysia Open first-round earlier this year. The pocket dynamo, who has a variety of shots in her armoury, stunned the Indian superstar 18-21, 21-19, 21-17. The head-to-head between the two shuttlers stands at 1-1 as Sindhu had beaten the Chinese teenager at Macau in 2015.
Sindhu has avoided the likes of Marin and Nozomi Okuhara, but she will know that she cannot take Chen lightly and that she needs to be at her best to change the colour of her medal.
Live streaming and TV Coverage
Global Live streaming will be available on BWF's official YouTube channel
India: TV: Star Sports 1/1 HD. Live streaming: Hotstar
UK: TV: BBC. Live streaming: BBC Sport
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
China: TV: LETV, CCTV 5+
Singapore: TV: StarHub. Live streaming: StarHub Go
Live scores can be followed here.
Who is Nozomi Ohukara, Saina's opponent
Okuhara, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist, stunned reigning Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin in their quarter-final outing yesterday. In a marathon battle, that last an hour and 33 minutes, the Japanese seventh seed got the better of the Spaniard 21-18, 14-21, 21-15.
Notably, Okuhara has been unbeaten in her last eight matches, winning the Australian Open crown last month. The 2016 All England winner had been struggling post Rio Games, but she has found form and is looking dangerous in the ongoing tournament.
However, her record against Saina is a cause of concern. In seven meetings, Okuhara has lost six to the Indian shuttler, including this year's All England Championships meetings.
