PV Sindhu (Getty Images) Key Highlights With this win, Sindhu has assured herself of a fourth World Championships medal It was a record eighth consecutive world championships quarter-final appearance for Saina In men's quarterfinals, Sai Praneeth lost to Kento Momota of Japan 12-21, 12-21 HYDERABAD: On a day when top seeds tumbled, defending champions faltered, a 117-stroke rally enthralled the fans, PV Sindhu ensured a World Championships medal for India. ALSO READ: No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying suffers shock defeat Saina Nehwal, Sai Praneeth and mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy lost but Sindhu dethroned Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a clinical fashion 21-17, 21-19 to storm into the semi-finals. "I am happy with my performance but it is not over yet. Tomorrow it is the semifinal and I have to play another Japanese girl. I have to be very much prepared and rest now. I have to come back strong against Yamaguchi," said Sindhu, adding that she was very patient throughout. "I knew that it is going be very long and I have to be very patient. When I was down at 8-11 in the second game, I backed myself and came back strong," she added. This would be Sindhu's fourth medal at the Worlds. The lanky shuttler would be facing second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who downed Chen Yufei of China in the other quarter-final. Sindhu enjoys a 6-4 win-loss record against Yamaguchi. Sindhu fought back from big deficits -- 3-7 in the first and 3-9 in the second -- to get past her rival. Only a few weeks back, Sindhu lost to Okuhara in the final of Thailand Open. The 23-year-old, who won silver last year, will be keen to go the distance this time. ALSO READ: Defending champion Viktor Axelsen exits Earlier, Saina was clueless as she caved in against Carolina Marin 6-21, 11-21. Even before Saina could get the feel of the conditions, the first game was over. Marin was at her aggressive best, hitting everything hard, yelling in her usual fashion and giving no time for Saina to react. Saina tried hard in the second game but could secure only 11 points as Marin was in a rampaging mood after the break. The 28-year-old Indian was stunned by the way Marin dominated her. "I didn't know that it'll be so fast..when you play that speed day by day its fine but yesterday I played a stroke player and today it was very fast. The match which I played yesterday was late in the evening and within few hours I have to play someone who is very fast...I didn't understand the game, it went on so fast there is no time to think. Her shots are also very attacking. I didn't get any chance to attack," Saina said. Meanwhile, Sai Praneeth proved no match for sixth seed Kento Momota. The Japanese shuttler took 39 minutes to oust the Indian 21-12, 21-12. Mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy suffered a straight-game loss against top seeded Chinese pair of Yaqiong Huang and Siwei Zheng 17-21, 10-21. Axelsen, Tai Tzu stunned Top seed in men's singles and defending champion Viktor Axeslen, women's singles top seed Tai Tzu Ying and women's doubles top seeds Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan crashed out of the tournament on Friday. Axeslen went down to Olympic champion Chen Long of China 19-21, 11-21 and Chen-Jia were knocked out by fifth seeds Greysia Poli and Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia 21-23, 21-23. However, the most unexpected result was the loss of Tai. The world No.1, who lost only one match this year, suffered a shocking defeat against local girl He Bingjiao 18-21, 21-7, 13-21. Indian results (QFs) Men's Singles: 6-Kento Momota (Jpn) bt Sai Praneeth 21-12, 21-12 Women's Singles: 3-PV Sindhu bt 8-Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) 21-17, 21-19; 7-Carolina Marin (ESP) bt 10-Saina Nehwal 21-6, 21-11 Mixed Doubles: 1-Yaqiong Huang/Siwei Zheng (CHN) bt Ashwini Ponnappa/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 21-17, 21-10<doc-sep>New Delhi: P.V. Sindhu defeated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-16, 24-22 in their Badminton World Championship semi-final match to reach her second straight final of the prestigious tournament. She will take on Spain’s reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the final in Nanjing, China on Sunday in what will be a repeat of the 2016 Rio summit clash. The Spaniard got the better of China’s He Bingjiao 13-21, 21-16, 21-13 in the other semi-final. Sindhu came back from a hole in both the games against the Japanese world no. 2 to book her place in the final. She was down 4-8 in the first game before eventually taking it 21-16. In the second game, the 23-year-old was staring down the barrel at 12-19 before winning 12 of the next 15 points to overcome Yamaghuchi’s stiff resistance and take the match. The head-to-head record between Sindhu and Marin stands at six wins each but the Spaniard had the measure of the Indian shuttler in the final of the Rio Olympics gold medal clash. Also read: All Indian medallists at World Badminton Championships The world no. 3, who lost 19-21, 22–20, 20-22 to Nozomi Okuhara in an enthralling final last year to settle for silver, will be eager to go one better this year and in the process become the first Indian to win a gold at a badminton world championship. The final against Marin on Sunday promises to be a humdinger and gives Sindhu a chance to become the first Indian badminton world champion. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.<doc-sep>Nanjing (China): Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu claimed a second successive World Championships final spot after seeing off a fighting Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in straight games at the women's singles semifinals here on Saturday. Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the Glasgow edition last year after losing to another Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, notched up a superb 21-16, 24-22 win over world number two Yamaguchi in a 54-minute hard-fought match. Ahead of the match, Sindhu had a 6-4 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi, who had defeated the Indian in big-ticket events such as All England Championship this year and Dubai Superseries Final last year. The duo faced off twice this year with each registering a win. The 23-year-old from Hyderabad, who also won two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014, will face Olympic champion and former two-time gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain on Sunday. Marin had robbed Sindhu off a gold medal at the Rio Olympics after defeating the Indian in the summit clash. Overall, Marin has a 6-5 advantage over Sindhu, who had beaten the Spaniard in their last encounter at the Malaysia Open in June.<doc-sep>A new men's singles champion on Sunday BWF World Badminton Championships 2018: PV Sindhu sets up title clash with Carolina Marin NEW DELHI: PV Sindhu made a stunning recovery to waltz into the second consecutive World Championships final. Living up to her billing as the big tournament player, the 23-year-old ousted Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-16, 24-22 in the 55-minute contest.Despite conceding big leads, Sindhu displayed tremendous grit to make unbelievable comeback, particularly in the second game. Trailing 12-19 in the second, with her rival needing just two points to push the match into the decider, Sindhu came up with an eight-point burst to move to match point.Such a recovery is rare at any stage of the tournament but Sindhu managed that in the high-voltage semi-final.Mixing net dribbles with straight line smashes, Sindhu capitalised on the casual approach of her opponent in the dying stages of the second game. At 20-19, a net chord saved Yamaguchi. Having scored a crucial point, Yamaguchi came up with a body smash and once again the net chord fetched her another point.At 21-20, Yamaguchi made one of the silliest errors, which she may not forget for a long time, as she served to the wrong side of the court.She hit the next one wide but got back into the match after winning a 41-shot rally, the longest of the match. At 22-22, Yamaguchi erred twice, hitting the shuttle out as Sindhu pumped her fists in the air celebrating a well-deserved victory.Even in the first game, Sindhu fought back from 0-5 and 4-8 deficits. But the lanky shuttler looked confident throughout the match.Meanwhile, it will be a repeat of the Olympic final on Sunday as Sindhu will face Carolina Marin of Spain.The two-time world champion recovered after losing the first game to dominate He Binjiao 21-16, 24-22 in the next two games. Marin has a 6-5 win-loss record against Sindhu but the Indian had won the last meeting at the Malaysian Open this June.“I hope it will be a better result than last time. I think overall it's been a good win today. I have to prepare well and get back tomorrow. I did not employ any new tactic today, we know each other's game. "I was patient enough on court and consistent. I was prepared for long matches because the Japanese are good rally players and many strokes last 40-50 hits. You have to be on court all the time. "Even when I was trailing 12-19, I was determined to fight till the last point and it worked," said Sindhu, adding that she is expecting another tough final against Marin. "Carolina is not an easy player. I have to fight out and work hard for every point. Carolina is quite aggressive at this tournament," Sindhu said.Lauding Sindhu, her coach Pullela Gopichand said. “She fought hard and attacked at the right time. A very good performance today.”There will be a new men's singles world champion on Sunday as Kento Momota clashes with local hope Shi Yuqi in the final.In the semi-finals, sixth seed Japanese shuttler Momota made short work of Daren Liew of China 21-16, 21-15. Liew was never in the contest as Momota dominated him throughout the 38th-minute tie. The talented shuttler, who made a brilliant comeback after serving a one-and-half year ban for gambling, is the favourite to win the title.In the other last-four clash, Yuqi got the better of Olympic champion and senior compatriot Chen Long 21-11, 21-17.<doc-sep>
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu continued her incredible run of form in the World Championships, earning a second successive final spot after seeing off Japan's Akane Yamaguchi at the women's singles semifinals on Saturday. World No. 3 Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the Glasgow edition last year after losing to another Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in an epic summit showdown, notched up a superb 21-16, 24-22 win over World No. 2 Yamaguchi in a 55-minute hard-fought match. "It was a good match overall. I hope this time it would be a better result than the last time. I have to prepare well for tomorrow, so it's not yet over," Sindhu said after the match. Sindhu entered the match with a 6-4 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi, who had defeated the Indian in big-ticket events such as All England Championship this year and Dubai Superseries Final last year. The duo faced off twice this year with each registering a win. Sindhu looked a bit nervous and took time to get into the groove, resulting in Yamaguchi racing away to a 5-0 lead. The Indian earned the first point with a precise smash but a couple of wide strokes on both sides of the court helped the Japanese move to 6-3. At 4-8, Sindhu reeled off five straight points to grab a 9-8 lead. However, the Japanese managed to hold a slender 11-10 lead at the break after Sindhu failed to cross the net. After the breather, Sindhu stepped up her retrieving skills and covered the court better as Yamaguchi tried to put the shuttle close to the lines and ended up committing many unforced errors. At 10-12, Sindhu rode on eight straight points to reach 18-12. However, she went out twice and also sent the shuttle long once to allow Yamaguchi to make a recovery. However, the Indian eventually grabbed four-game points after capitalising on a weak return from the Japanese and converted it immediately when Yamaguchi faltered at the forecourt. "We know each other's game, we play very often, we played at the All England Championship. So we needed to be patient and consistent to win. I was prepared for long matches because both Yamaguchi and Okuhara are very good players and can go on and on in the rallies," Sindhu said. Just like the opening game, Sindhu again lagged 2-6 initially in the second game, before the Indian managed to reduce the gap to 7-8. But after Sindhu went out Yamaguchi unleashed a whipping cross court smash and one at the backcourt to move to the interval with an 11-7 advantage. The Japanese extended the lead to 14-9 with two precise smashes. But she went long thrice after that and Sindhu too found the net twice. It was 16-12 advantage for Yamaguchi at that point. Sindhu then scripted an incredible recovery from 12-19, reeling off eight straight points to grab one match point. Yamaguchi saved one before holding a game point herself. However, the Japanese goofed up during the service to squander her advantage. After another intense rally, Yamaguchi went long to hand over Sindhu a second match point but what ensued next was the longest rally of the contest, comprising 41 shots, which ended with Sindhu hitting wide. However, Yamaguchi hit wide again to gift Sindhu her third match point and this time she converted it after the Japanese went wide again. The 23-year-old from Hyderabad, who also won two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014, will face Olympic champion and former two-time gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain on Sunday. Marin had robbed Sindhu off a gold medal at the Rio Olympics after defeating the Indian in the summit clash. Overall, Marin has a 6-5 advantage over Sindhu, who had beaten the Spaniard in their last encounter at the Malaysia Open in June. Promoted "Tomorrow is going to be an aggressive match. Again we know each other's game, so no easy matches, no easy points, just have to turn up and give my best tomorrow," Sindhu said. Marin on Saturday beat Chinese eighth seed He Bingjiao 13-21, 21-16, 21-13 to make her third World Championship final.