Match: Xiaoyu Liang v Nitchaon Jindapol, Women's singles quarter-final
Date: 10 February, Friday
Time: 4:50pm SGT/2:20pm IST/8:50am GMT
Venue: Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok
TV Channel: In Singapore, Hub Sports 1 will provide live TV coverage.
Live streaming: The matches can be watched online at BWF Youtube channel, Hotstar.
Live scores can be found on tournament's official website.
Overview
Xiaoyu Liang has been leading the campaign for Singapore at the season's third Grand Prix Gold event in Thailand quite well, decimating her first and second round opponents in straight games so far.
The fifth seed took only 27 minutes to decimate Taiwan's unseeded shuttler Ling Fang Hu 21-5, 21-18 to open her campaign this season and edged past local shuttler Sarita Suwannakitborihan 22-20, 21-3 on Thursday. However, the world number 28 is set to face a stiffer test in the quarter-final against second seed Nitchaon Jindapol, who eased past China's Li Wenmei in straight games yesterday.
Both Liang and Jindapol have been performing inconsistently over the recent past and both the shuttlers would want to begin the season on a high. The Thailand shuttler went winless in the last year despite beginning the season with a semi-final apperance at Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold tournament. After suffering a slump, she was able to reach the final of Bitburger Open only to lose to China's He Bingjiao.
On the other hand, Liang's only high point of 2016 came when she represented Singapore at the Rio Olympics. While the two shuttlers have not met each other earlier, going by the recent form, Jindapol, who has had valuable match practise amidst top-ranked shuttlers at the Premier Badminton League in India last month, looks set to progress to the last-four stages.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports
Singapore: Hub Sports 1
