BWF World Tour Finals: It's Sindhu vs Ratchanok and Sameer vs Shi Yuqi in the semis

The draw for the semi-finals of BWF World Tour finals 2018 was announced recently.

In women's singles, PV Sindhu will be up against Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. Sindhu finished on top in group A with three victories, whereas Ratchanok booked her semi-finals spot by coming second in group B with two victories.

Sindhu has been in tremendous form in this tournament as she managed to beat both Tai Tzu Ying (current world no.1) and Akane Yamaguchi (current world no.2) in fantastic fashion. But Ratchanok Intanon can never be taken lightly, as she can easily unsettle her opponents with her delicate drops and deft touches. Ratchanok leads in her head-to-head record against Sindhu by 4-3. But Sindhu had won 3 out of their last 4 encounters.

The other semi-final in women's singles will be an all-Japanese encounter, as it will feature defending champion Akane Yamaguchi up against her teammate and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara.

Yamaguchi qualified for the knockout round after Tai Tzu Ying retired in the second game due to a foot injury.

In men's singles, Sameer Verma was not confirmed for the knockout round despite getting two wins in the group stage, until Kento Momota scored a straight game victory over Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.

Being a debutante, Verma has definitely impressed his fans and badminton pundits by reaching the semis. But for reaching the finals he will need to overcome world no.2 Shi Yuqi of China. Verma trails in his head-to-head record against Yuqi by 1-2. But Verma had defeated Yuqi in straight games at the recently concluded Danisa Denmark Open.

The other men's singles semifinal will feature world no.1 Kento Momota up against world no.6 Son Wan Ho of Korea.

The doubles draws are as follows:

Men's Doubles:

1. Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup (Denmark) vs Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe (Japan)

2. Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China) vs Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-lin (Chinese Taipei)

Women's Doubles:

1. Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi (Japan) vs Du Yue and Li Yinhui (China)

2. Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara (Japan) vs Lee Soo Hee and Shin Seung Chan (Korea)

Mixed Doubles:

1. Zhang Siwei and Huang Yaqiong (China) vs Dechapol and Sapsiree (Thailand)

2. Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Highashino (Japan) vs Wang Yilu and Huang Dongping (China)