World Tour Finals: Tough road ahead for Sindhu; Sameer too eyes knockout berth

P V Sindhu’s bid to end the season with a gold will be a tough one while debutante Sameer Verma too will need to produce his absolute best to make the knockout stage when the BWF World Tour Finals begins here Wednesday.Sindhu has been the most impressive among the Indian shuttlers as she claimed silver medals at all the major events — Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championship — besides finishing runners-up at the India Open and Thailand Open.On Wednesday, the 23-year-old from Hyderabad, who had finished runners-up in the last edition at Dubai, will begin her quest to put a golden touch to her silver-filled cabinet.But the road to the women’s singles title will be a stiff one, considering she has been clubbed in what can be called a ‘group of death’, which includes world no 1 and her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, Japan’s world no 2 and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi and her India Open conqueror Beiwen Zhang of USA.Only eight top players compete in the prestigious season-ending event and the top two from each group will qualify for the semifinals, after which a knockout draw will be conducted.Sindhu, who will be making her third successive appearance at the tournament, have a 9-4 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi but she has lost four times to the Japanese in five meetings this season.The 23-year-old from Hyderabad also have found the going tough against Asian Games Champion Tai Tzu Ying, who has beaten her in all their last six encounters. The last time Sindhu defeated Tzu Ying was at the 2016 Rio Olympics.Against Zhang, Sindhu has a 3-3 head-to-head record but the Indian has lost twice in the last three meetings, which included a final defeat at the India Open World Tour Super 500 tournament in New Delhi.
Sindhu has exuded confidence ahead of the tournament, saying she would be in top form after getting enough time to put in the hard yards.