Tokyo Olympics: Day 8, July 31 – PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu-ying to battle it out in the semi finals – Preview
The stars have finally aligned and we have on our plates the most-awaited clash of the badminton Women’s Singles event as World No. 7 PV Sindhu will have to take on World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying for a place in the finals and get closer to the gold medal. Promising to be an uphill task, given that PV Sindhu and Tai share a very intense rivalry, the semi-final clash at the Tokyo Olympics will have a lot of fireworks as these two extremely explosive as well as deceptive players give it their all for a place in the finals.
While PV Sindhu overcame Akane Yamaguchi and has literally, stormed into the semi-finals of the event and is yet to drop a single game and has become the first Indian shuttler to make it to her second straight semi-finals at the Olympics, it is Tai Tzu-ying’s first appearance in the last 4, after 2 previous failed attempts. She almost missed out on making the semis once again as Thai fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon put up a very stiff fight and almost won the match, before Tai scrambled to the finish line in a thrilling, 14-21, 21-18, 21-18 affair.
In fact, Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-ying hasn’t enjoyed success in some of the most important stages despite being the No. 1 for a record number of days. The second seeded Tai does not have a World Championship crown to her name and she is yet to win an Olympic medal. While it was China’s Li Xuerui who ended her journey at the Round of 16 at the 2012 London Olympics, it was PV Sindhu who ousted Tai in the Round of 16 encounter at 2016 Rio. Therefore, the 27-year-old Tai will be seeking revenge, most definitely, as she takes on the 2019 World Champion in the semi-finals and this is more reason for Sindhu to have all her guards up.
There is never an easy match when the Queen of Deception is involved and therefore the silver medallist from Rio will have to be extra careful as she heads into this. As it is, Tai boasts of having a 13-5 edge in their head to head and has also won their last 3 clashes, which is all the more a reason to worry about. Their last meeting came at the 2020 World Tour Finals where they contested a close match, before Tai went on to win, 19-21, 21-12, 21-17. However, one can take comfort from the fact that the sixth seeded PV Sindhu playing at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza is a much-developed player with new tactics up her sleeve which allows her to execute her shots very confidently.
The 26-year-old PV Sindhu is a big match player and she has the experience of playing in the semi-finals of an Olympics on her side and she does know the risks of playing with Tai. With Korean coach Park Tae Sang onboard, Sindhu has become a changed player and given her display so far at the Games, she looks most deserving and motivated for a medal. No doubt, it will be a nail-biting thriller for sure as both players are at their peak forms and it will be a battle of nerves to see who earns the ticket to fight for gold in the Finals. It remains to be seen if PV Sindhu can hand Tai a defeat two times in a row at the stage of the Olympics, as well!
Schedule and When to Watch?
The venue for all badminton events at the Tokyo Olympics is going to be the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza where all the on-court action is expected to unfurl.
Women’s Singles – Semi-Finals
PV Sindhu [7] vs Tai Tzu-ying [1] not before 3:20 PM IST on July 31, 2021
Live Streaming and Where to Watch?
You can catch all the action LIVE on Sony Sports Network channels in India.
Here are the details of broadcasters in some more countries:
Japan: The Japan Consortium
USA: NBC Universal
UK: BBC, Eurosport
China: CCTV
Australia: Seven Network
Germany: ARD-ZDF
Brazil: Grupo Globo, Bandsports
Spain: RTVEItaly: RAI
France: Eurosport
South Africa: SABC
