It is a battle between the world number one and the world number two. Two of the most in-form shuttlers are gearing up to fight for their maiden Singapore Superseries crown on Sunday.
When Carolina Marin and her higher-ranked opponent Tai Tzu Ying, go head-to-head later today, it will be also the repeat of last week's Malaysia Open final, which the latter won after a draining battle that went on for an hour and 26 minutes.
Marin has been dominan in the ongoing tournament, demolishing PV Sindhu and Sung Ji Hyun in straight games in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively. On the other hand, Tai, who is bidding to win a record fifth straight Superseries title, made light work of Beiwen Zhang in her last-four outing yesterday.
No Women's singles shuttler in the past has won five Superseries title on the trot ever before and Tai has an opportunity to achieve the feat today. The 22-year-old's dominance has been such that she has hardly been challenged ever since she won the Hong Kong Open title last year and went on to clinch crowns in Dubai, All England and Malaysia Open.
With her deception, Tai has been a nightmare to her opponents and the Taiwanese shuttler is making best use of her purple patch. She has made light work of other top shuttlers of the likes of Sindhu, Marin and Ratchanok Intanon in the recent past and has become a force to reckon with in the Women's singles circuit.
Marin faces a stiff test today as she has not been able to get past Tai in their last three meetings. Despite being in the front on multiple occasions in Malaysia last Sunday, she was not able to be decisive and close out the match. The Spaniard though is looking more resolute in Singapore and displayed great speed and energy during her wins against Sindhu and Sung.
Tai will start the match as favourite once again but Marin should believe that she will be able to put once across the Taiwanese today.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports 2
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Singapore: StarHub Sports
