New Delhi: Korean Sung ji Hyun defeated India's PV Sindhu 21-15, 18-21, 21-15 in the semi-final of BWF Super Series Masters Finals. It was a heartbreaking loss for Sindhu, who had defeated World No. 1 Carolina Marin in her previous match.
Match - As it happened---
Game 3:
09: 03 pm - Sung has done it! Wins the game and the match!
09: 02 pm - Poor shot by Sindhu from the nets, 15-20, five match points for the Korean.
09: 01 pm - Another point by Sindhu, 15-19.
09: 01 pm - Point won by Sindhu, 14-19.
09: 00 pm - Some fatigus shown by Sindhu, loses the point, Sung leads 19-13.
09: 00 pm - Sindhu fights back to win a point, 13-18.
08: 59 pm - Another point for Sung, 18-12.
08: 58 pm - Point won by Sung, 17-12.
08: 57 pm - Good rally, even better deception by Sindhu, 12-16.
08: 57 pm - Point won by Sindhu, 11-16.
08: 56 pm - Cheeky work by Sung from the nets, wins a point, 16-10. Time running out for Sindhu.
08: 56 pm - Sindhu fights back to win a point, 10-15.
08: 55 pm - More aggression by Sung, another smash, another winner, 15-9.
08: 55 pm - Aggression shown by Sung, wins a point with a body smash, 14-9.
08: 54 pm - Sindhu gets a point in her favour, 9-13.
08: 54 pm - No fatigue whatsoever being shown by the Korean, 13-8.
08: 53 pm - Sung wins another point with a drop shot after making Sindhu run all over the court, 12-8.
08: 52 pm - Back-to-back points for Sindhu, 8-11.
08: 51 pm - Positive intent shown by Sindhu, immediately wins a point with a smash, 7-11.
08: 49 pm - Sung continues to dominate, leads 11-6 at first break of third game.
08: 48 pm - Another smash by Sindhu, wins a point, 6-10.
08: 48 pm - Another point won by Sung, 10-5.
08: 47 pm - Unbelievable defence by the Korean. She picked one of Sindhu's smashes out of nowhere, wins the point, 9-5.
08: 46 pm - Another point for Singhu, 5-8.
08: 46 pm - Sindhu gets the service back, 4-8.
08: 46 pm - The Korean is dominating without a doubt, 8-3.
08: 45 pm - Another point in Sunga's favour, 7-3
08: 44 pm - Wide shot by Sindhu, Sung leads 6-3.
08: 44 pm - Sindhu gets back the serve with a powerful smash, 3-5.
08: 44 pm - Sung wins another point, 5-2.
08: 43 pm - Another powerful smash by Sindhu, Sung's return is wide, 2-4.
08: 42 pm - Sindhu wins the first point of the game with a smash, 1-4.
08: 42 pm - Cross court winner by the Korean, 4-0.
08: 42 pm - Another point won by Sung, three in a row for her, 3-0.
08: 41 pm - Another point in Sung's favour, 2-0.
08: 41 pm - Sungs wins the first point, leads 1-0.
Game 2:
08: 38 pm - Sindhu has bounced back to win the second game! She wins it 21-18. She is ecstatic!
08: 36 pm - Rally of the match! Top top effort from both the players. Sindhu reaches game point with a superb drop shot, 20-18 she leads. Three game points for her.
08: 35 pm - Excellent deception at the nets by Sindhu, 19-18 she leads. Must-win game for her to stay in this match.
08: 35 pm - Good defence by Sindhu but en error of judgement cost her a point, 18-18.
08: 33 pm - Good court coverage by Sindhu, hits two back-to-back smashes to win a point, leads 18-17.
08: 33 pm - Scores level once again at 17-17.
08: 32 pm - Good rally, won by Sindhu as she had enough time to produce a smash near the net, 17-16.
08: 31 pm - Excellent cross court winner from Sindhu once again, 16-16. Sindhu has been sensational with her smashes from cross court today.
08: 30 pm - Sindhu's shot goes long, Sung leads 16-15.
08: 30 pm - Sung covers the deficit to level score yet again at 15-15.
08: 29 pm - Good body smash by Sung, 14-15.
08: 28 pm - Sung's stroke goes way wide, Sindhu leads 15-13.
08: 28 pm - Brilliant cross court winner from Sindhu, 14-13 she leads. No breathing space for both in this game.
08: 27 pm - Sung once again bounces back to level score at 13-13.
08: 27 pm - Sindhu leads 13-12.
08: 26 pm - Sindhu wins the next point, 12-12.
08: 25 pm - Sung wins another point, 12-11.
08: 25 pm - Sindhu loses service, 11-11.
08: 24 pm - Sindhu leads 11-10.
08: 23 pm - Sindhu levels score with a good smash, 10-10.
08: 22 pm - Good smash by Sung, she leads for the first time in the game, 10-9.
08: 21 pm - Another powerful smash by Sindhu, challenged by Sung and it goes in her favour, 9-9.
08: 20 pm - Good cross-court smash by Sung, she trails 8-9.
08: 19 pm - Sung wins next point as Sindhu fails to lift a low stroke, 9-7.
08: 18 pm - Sindhu is getting her groove back, leads 9-6.
08: 18 pm - Sindhu extends her lead to 8-6.
08: 17 pm - Good smash by Sindhu. She saw plenty of space towards Sung's left and hit a winner, Sindhu leads 7-6.
08: 16 pm - Sung wins next point, 6-6. Neck-to-neck so far.
08: 16 pm - Sung's stroke goes way wide, Sindhu leads 6-5.
08: 15 pm - Well played by Sindhu, Sung loses service, 5-5.
08: 15 pm - Sindhu loses service as her shot goes long, 4-5.
08: 15 pm - Sindhu wins another point, 4-4.
08: 14 pm - Error of judgement from Sindhu, Sung leads 4-3.
08: 14 pm - Sung levels score, 3-3.
08: 14 pm - Sindhu wins another point, takes a lead for first time in match, 3-2.
08: 13 pm - Sung's shot lands wide, 2-2.
08: 13 pm - Sindhu bounces back with a cracking cross-court smash, 1-2.
08: 12 pm - Powerful smash from Sung gets her another point, 2-0.
08: 12 pm - Both the players started with a good rally, Sung won the first point, 1-0.
Game 1:
08: 08 pm - Sung wins the game with a smash from the net, wins 21-15.
08: 08 pm - Superb smash from Sung, she leads 20-15. Five-point lead seems to be good enough to seal this game by the Korean
08: 07 pm - Cracking cross court smash from Sindhu! She isn't giving up her hopes in this game at all. 15-19 she trails.
08: 06 pm - Superb rally, a drop smash from Sindhu went wide, 19-14 leads Sung.
08: 04 pm - Sung smashes, Sindhu fails to pick it from her right side, despite full stretch, 18-14.
08: 04 pm - A point won by Sung, 17-14.
08: 03 pm - Mind blowing defence by Sindhu, but she eventually loses the point, falls on court, 14-16.
08: 03 pm - Sung's cheeky smash finds the net, 15-14.
08: 02 pm - Point won by Sung, she leads 15-13.
08: 01 pm - Brilliant body smash by Sindhu. Sung had no chance there. Sung leads 14-13.
08: 01 pm - Cross court smash by Sindhu, trails 12-14.
08: 00 pm - Another point won by Sung, she leads 14-11.
07: 59 pm - Point for Sindhu as Sung's smash goes wide, 11-13.
07: 59 pm - Cross court smash from Sindhu hits the net, she trails 10-13.
07: 58 pm - Sung wins a point after making Sindhu stretch which led to an error, 12-10.
07: 58 pm - Powerful smash from Sindhu gets her a point, 10-11.
Sindhu has made some unforced errors. She would be looking to bounce back. Sung has surprised us all so far.
07: 56 pm - Sung takes the lead at 11-9 at the first break.
07: 55 pm - Good aggression from Sindhu, she made Sung run to her left and right, 9-10.
07: 55 pm - Good rally, won by Sindhu with a smash in the right corner of Sung, 8-10.
07: 54 pm - Sung shows more aggression, extends lead to 10-7.
07: 54 pm - Sindhu wins a point, 7-9.
07: 53 pm - Drop smash from Sindhu is short, she trails 6-9.
07: 53 pm - Powerful cross court winner from Sindhu, 6-8.
07: pm - Superb drop shot from Sung, she leads 8-5.
07: 51 pm - Sindhu gets a point in her favour, 5-7.
07: 51 pm - Cross court smash from Sindhu goes wide again, 4-7.
07: 51 pm - Powerful smash from Sindhu lands wide, 4-6.
07: 50 pm - Sung now leads 5-4
07: 50 pm - Both players win a point each 4-4.
07: 49 pm - Another point for Sindhu, 3-3.
07: 48 pm - A point for Sindhu with a deceptive smash 2-3.
07: 48 pm - Sung jumps to produce another fine smash to extend lead to 3-1
07: 48 pm - Sung won the next point, leads 2-1
07: 47 pm - Sindhu bounced back to level score 1-1
07: 47 pm - Hyun won the first point with a good smash, leads 1-0
07: 43 pm - The players have come on the field.
At the Hamdan Sports Complex, Sindhu will be beaming with confidence after beating the World No. 1 in straight games in her previous match.
The 21-year-old Hyderabad girl has a 6-3 lead in head-to-head against Sung Ji Hyun, with four wins coming in 2016.
Sindhu’s latest win against Sung came in the China Open on November 11. Sindhu beat the Korean 11-21, 23-21 and 21-19 in a tough match. Sindhu went on to win the China Open by beating China’s Sun Yu 21-11, 17-21 and 21-11.
The winner of today's match will be up against No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei. Tai Tzu Ying defeated Sun Yu 21-19, 21-19 in the first semifinal on Saturday.
Watch the winning point from PV Sindhu's quarter-final match against Carolina Marin.
That's how you do it! The point which takes @Pvsindhu1 into the SEMIFINAL of #DubaiSSF pic.twitter.com/3vgMl6cvii
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) December 16, 2016
