World Tour Finals: A perfect beginning with enthralling matches
Follow Us
The World Tour Finals of the World tour calendar 2020 finally took off on 27 January 2021 in Impact Arena, Bangkok. The draws have ensured a power-packed week for all the badminton enthusiasts across the world.
The day began with fantastic matches in the women’s and men’s doubles categories. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi beat Choi Solgyu/Seo Seung Jae of Korea 21-14, 21-19. In the other court, Jokgkolphan K/Rawinda P of Thailand beat Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith of England 21-10, 21-11.
Indians go down fighting
India’s PV Sindhu put up a wonderful game against world number one Tai Tzu Ying. In about an hour PV Sindhu went down fighting 19-21, 21-12 and 21-17. Errors were few from PV Sindhu today but the queen of deception came up with a strong game after losing a closely fought opening game.
Anders Antonsen emerged victorious in a marathon match lasting an hour and 17 minutes against India’s Kidambi Srikanth. The injury and quarantine seemed to have made Srikanth’s mental resolve prevail over injury and fitness concerns, to come up with an incredible performance. Antonsen won 15-21, 21-16 and 21-18. Srikanth looked dominant in the first game. Rallies were well constructed. Both players were testing each other’s limits and going for rallies and going for the kill by creating openings or weak returns. It was a good game by both players and was a matter of who’s day it was to win.
Also Read: BWF Tour Finals: Kidambi Srikanth loses to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen on day 1
Notable matches on Day 1 of the World Tour Finals
The most notable match of the day was in the women’s doubles category. In the longest match played in the past two weeks for sure, probable more than that, Greysia Polii and Apriyanu Rahayu beat the Koreans Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan in an hour and 34 minutes. It was a test of all possible human values like grit, determination, resilience, perseverance and physical strength and stamina as well as both teams were pushed to the extremes. The Indonesians put up an exemplary performance as they held up their attack quite consistently even in the second half of the third game when the exhaustion levels increase.
The French pair of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue beat Hafiz and Gloria in a spectacular 3 setter 14-21, 21-14 and 21-17.
Carolina Marin suffered a scare from the Russian Evgeniya Kosetskaya. Evgeniya is the first Russian singles player to qualify for the World Tour Finals. She gave Marin a nightmare in the first game, picking up good pints with some great attack and net pplay. It was evident that the Spaniard was being made to work hard for every point as the decibel of her screams of celebration grew with every point in the first game. However, her experience came to her advantage and she changed her tactical, and exploited the weakness of her opponent and comfortably took the second game. She won, 21-19, 21-14.
Pornpawee Chochuwong beat the third seed and Thailand’s favourite, Ratchnok Intanon injust over an hour. Chochuwang played extremely well, going for rallies and aggressive play, making Intanon move all-around the court. Intanon won the first game 21-15 however her junior made a spectacular comeback and won the next two 21-11 and 21-18.
Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung beat the first seeds Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith of England in straight games 21-12, 21-12.
Dechapol and Sapsiree kept up their unbeaten streak, beating the Indonesians Melati and Praveen in three hard fought games 21-13,16-21,21-11.
To end the day, Viktor Axelsen beat Anthony Ginting in straight games 21-17, 21-8. It was a closely fought first game, however Axelsen completely dominated the second. His footwork and attack were flawless he extended his unbeaten streak to 26 matches.
Other Major results:
- Kim So Yeong/ Kong Hee Yong beat Linda Efler/ Isabel Herttrich 21-11,19-21, 21-11
- Ben Lane/Sean Vendy beat Chris Langridge Marcus Ellis 22-20, 21-15
- Chou Tien Chen beat Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 12-21, 21-11
- Wang Tzu Wei beat Ng Ka Long Angus 21-10, 21-14
When and Where to watch?
Day two of the BWF World Tour Finals will surely bring to the fore some more nail-biting, unpredictable matches.
Some of the matches to watch out for tomorrow are:
- PV Sindhu vs Ratchanok Intanon
- Kin So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong vs Jongkolphan K/Rawinda P
- Carolina Marin vs Michelle Li
- Chou Tien Chen vs Anthony Ginting
- Kidambi Srikanth vs Wang Tzu Wei
- Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith vs Praveen Jordan/ Melati D Oktavianti
The matches start at 9:30 AM IST and will be telecast live on Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 2 HD TV channels in India and Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform.
Also Read: Uphill tasks for PV Sindhu and Srikanth in the BWF World Tour Finals
Stay Updated!
Medha Kattige
(117 Articles Published)