How has PV Sindhu performed at the World Tour Finals?
We take a look at the Indian badminton star’s record at the season-ending finale
PV Sindhu will lead the India’s campaign at the BWF World Tour Finals, which will be held in Bali, Indonesia from December 1-5, 2021.
This will be the first time that as many as seven Indians have qualified for the season-ending finale. While Sindhu will compete in the women’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen have qualified for the men’s singles of the elite event where only the top players of the season make the cut.
Sindhu, however, is the only Indian to win the season-ending tournament, which was branded as the World Tour Finals in 2018. We take a look at her record at the event:
2020
The tournament was held in Bangkok, Thailand from January 27-31, 2021 due to the pandemic.
A rusty Sindhu lost her first two matches to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and top-ranked Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
Indian badminton star, however, ended on a positive note as she beat Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-18, 21-15 in her final Group B game.
2019
Sindhu suffered two narrow defeats at the 2019 World Tour Finals.
While she went down 21-18, 18-21, 8-21 to Akane Yamaguchi in an hour and eight minutes in the opening Group A match, Sindhu battled for an hour and 12 minutes before losing 22-20, 16-21, 12-21 to Chen Yufei.
She beat He Bingjiao 21-19, 21-19 in 42 minutes in the final group match.
2018
The 2018 World Tour Finals proved pivotal for Sindhu. Not only did she become the first Indian player to win the season-ending finale, it helped her shed the 'Silver Sindhu' label. She had previously been in the Rio 2016 final and the summit clash of the World Championships in 2017 and 2018 but stumbled at the final hurdle.
Having overcome Yamaguchi and Tai Tzu Ying in the group stages, Sindhu faced familiar foe Nozomi Okuhara in the final.
She had played some draining and dramatic matches against the Japanese, but Sindhu was poised for the big kill at the event in Guangzhou, China.
The Indian star defeated Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in an hour and two minutes to claim her first major title. A year later, she defeated the same rival to clinch the World Championships.