India's star badminton player PV Sindhu advanced to the BWF World Tour Finals final after a hard-fought semifinal victory over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan on Saturday, December 4. In a tense match, the reigning world champion and two-time Olympic medalist defeated Yamaguchi 21-15; 15-21; 21-19.
Sindhu will be contesting in her third season-ending tournament final. She had won the title in 2018, making her the first and only Indian to do it.
The world number 7 Indian has a 12-8 head-to-head record against the world number three Japanese.
Sindhu has been in excellent form after her bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Before the BWF World Tour Finals, she had reached the semifinals of her last three events: the French Open,
Indonesia Masters, and Indonesia Open.
She had come second in the Swiss Open the year before.
In Tokyo Olympics 2020, the badminton player created history by becoming the first woman and second Indian after Sushil Kumar to win medals in successive Olympics.
After the match against
He Bingjiao in the Olympic tournament, shuttler PV Sindhu said that she had to switch off her emotions to do well in the bronze-medal match."I'm really happy and I think I've done really well. It's a proud moment getting a medal for my country," Sindhu was quoted after the match.
The 26-year-old had paid gratitude to the fans for supporting her throughout the tournament.
Sindhu is also preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics.