BWF World Tour Finals 2019: All you need to know, schedule, draw, where to watch live

After a brilliant first half of the year, ace shuttler P V Sindhu's form has dipped considerably in the latter half and she will be banking on the BWF World Tour Finals to resurge and establish her dominance yet again. The defending champion at the World Tour finals, Sindhu had shown streaks of her brilliance during the 2018 tournament where she took down quality opponents like Akane Yamaguchi, Tai Tzu Ying, and Beiwen Zhang and crushed the challenge from Ratchanok Itnanon and eventually, Nozomi Okuhara to claim the title.

Sindhu's rankings have dropped to World Number 15 and she would have missed out on the chance to enter the World Tour Finals had she not been crowned as the World Champion earlier this year in Basel. Owing to that glorious feat, Sindhu gained a natural entry into the year-ending World Tour finals and has been handed a fairly easy draw provided she brings her best form to the table and regains her confidence. The ace Hyderabadi player has been drawn in Group A alongside China's Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, and Japan's Akane Yamaguchi. The lone shuttler to have qualified for the prestigious Top 8 event, the 24-year-old will open her campaign against Yamaguchi on Wednesday in the Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou.

There has been a major slump in Sindhu's form in the past few months and especially in the last six tournaments, she has only made it to the quarter-finals of the French Open. Her lack-luster form has been glaringly apparent of late as the expectations from the reigning World Champion keep rising. Over the past two and a half weeks, Sindhu has been training hard with Korean coach Park Tae Sang and is picking up on ways to rectify her recent mistakes at the past tournaments.

As the World Tour Finals begin on December 11, Sindhu will once again have to step up her game and ensure that she ends the year on a positive note and hopefully defend the title also. After an impressive outing in 2018, Sindhu will begin her quest for the title against Akane Yamaguchi against whom she has an overwhelming 10-6 head to head record. On the other hand, Chen Yufei should also be an easy challenge for Sindhu as she has dominated the Chinese 6-3. The only problem Sindhu might be facing can be in the form of He Bingjiao who has defeated the lanky Hyderabadi on nine occasions. If Sindhu manages to find her rhythm once again, she might actually have a good shot at defending the elusive title.

Also read: Tricky draw awaits P V Sindhu in the BWF World Tour Final

When and where to watch

The BWF World Tour Finals 2019 will begin on December 11 and conclude on December 15 in Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China. The matches will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar from Wednesday (December 11) at 8:30 am IST.