Match: Ratchanok Intanon v Tai Tzu Ying
Date: 15 December, Thursday
Time: 6 pm SGT/3:30pm IST/10am GMT
Competition: BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals 2016
Venue: Hamdan Sports Complex, Dubai
TV Channel: In Singapore, there is no live TV coverage of the match.
Live Streaming: Hotstar, BWF's official YouTube channel.
Overview
Tai Tzu Ying opened her Dubai World Superseries Finals 2016 campaign on a high by winnning her tournament opener against China's He Bingjiao. Top seed Tai was hardly troubled by her opponent, who lost the match in straight games - 21-16, 21-13.
Tai has successfully carried forward her phenomenal recent form into the ongoing tournament. The newly-crowned world number one, who also became the first Taiwanese shuttler to claim the singles top spot, entered the competition on the back of winning her the Hong Kong Open Superseries, in which she decimated Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu in the final.
The 22-year-old, who looked on course to make it big at the Rio Games after title wins in Indonesia and Chinese Taipei suffered a shock exit in the first round. Tai has buckled up since then and has now made all the right noises in the ongoing tournament by winning the opening clash.
However, she will face a tougher test in the group when she takes on former world number one Ratchanok Intanon on Thursday. The Thailand shuttler though lost her opening clash against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in straight games on Wednesday.
Intanon would badly want to win Thursday's clash and keep her hopes of progressing in the tournament alive. Notably, the 22-year-old has had a horrid time since she won her third Superseries title of 2016 in Singapore in April.
Given the two shuttlers' recent form, it would be a an uphill task for Intanon to put one across the in-form Taiwanese. However, the Thailand star can take confidence from her 7-5 head-to-head advantage over Tai, which includes two victories in 2016 - India and Malaysia Open.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports HD 2
