World No 3 PV Sindhu was barely tested by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in her final group match of the Dubai World Superseries Finals as she came through a 21-9, 21-13 winner in just 36 minutes. The result meant that Sindhu topped her group and will head into the semi-finals on Saturday unbeaten.
Sindhu won 11 of the first 12 points of the match, which gave a fair indication as to which direction it was headed. Yamaguchi was just not able to keep up with the Indian, who used her height advantage and superior court coverage to perfection. In the semi-finals on Saturday, Sindhu will take on China’s Chen Yufei, who came second in her group.
It was the polar opposite in terms of results for the other Indian who qualified for the Dubai Finals, as K Srikanth exited without a single win to his name. Srikanth was already out of contention for the semi-finals after losing his second match on Thursday. But the world No 4 had a chance to end his campaign with a consolatory win.
That wasn’t to be, though, as Srikanth lost to China’s Shi Yuqi 17-21, 22-20, 14-21 on Friday. Shi’s win meant that he topped Group B, with world champion Viktor Axelsen coming second. The two joined Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and Korea’s Son Wan Ho from Group A in the last four. Son came back from 13-21, 6-16 down against Lee in his final group match to win in three games and snatch the second semi-final spot away from NG Ka Long Angus.