BWF World Tour Finals 2018: Sindhu edges close to semis, Sameer keeps hopes alive

Guangzhou (China), December 13: India's badminton ace PV Sindhu beat world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 of Chinese Taipei in her second group A match of the BWF World Tour Finals to inch close to a knockout berth.

It was the Rio Games silver medallist's second win on the trot in the tournament, following her 24-22, 21-15 win against Japan's world No.2 Akane Yamaguchi on the opening day of the tournament.

Sindhu, who had finished as runner-up in the 2017 edition, will next take on United States' Beiwen Zhang in the last group tie on Friday.

PV Sindhu beats world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 in her second group A match#BWFWorldTourFinalshttps://t.co/iQ7Yc5KEV6 pic.twitter.com/ynn5TC111E

— NDTV Sports (@Sports_NDTV) December 13, 2018

The top two players from each group will qualify for the semifinals, after which a knockout draw will be conducted.

Only eight top players compete in the prestigious season-ending event.

Congrats PV Sindhu you played well today. It's okay Ying boleh fight lagi. Boleh tersenyum salah sendiri tu buat sis hilang risau pasal condition awak. 💪👏 #BWFWorldTourFinals pic.twitter.com/aiceU0Rxz9

— aten senget (@atenzone) December 13, 2018

Sindhu had lost to Tai Tzu in her six previous meetings including the 2018 Asian Games final in Jakarta, before finally getting her act together.

Earlier, the other Indian in the fray -- Sameer Verma -- dished out a dominating performance to outclass Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in straight games to keep his hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage alive.

World No 14 Sameer, who qualified for the tournament at the last moment after defending his title at the Syed Modi International last month, looked at ease against the 10th ranked Sugiarto, defeating him 21-16 21-7 in a 40-minute Group B clash.

The 24-year-old, who had lost the opening match against world no 1 and world champion Kento Momota, will face Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen on Friday. He had defeated Wangcharoen en route to his Swiss Open title but lost at the Thailand Open this year.

(With inputs from Agencies)