Badminton
Tokyo Olympics, Badminton Day 2, July 25 - PV Sindhu vs Ksenia Polikarpova - Preview, schedule, LIVE streaming, where to watch
It will be back to business for World No. 7 PV Sindhu as she opens her quest for gold at the Tokyo Olympics against Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova.
PV Sindhu will meet Saena Kawakami in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open 2022 (Source: Getty Images)
With golden dreams in her eyes, 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu will begin her bid for the yellow metal on Day 2 of the Tokyo Olympics. With the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza playing hunting ground, World No. 7 PV Sindhu will lock horns with World No. 58 from Israel, Ksenia Polikarpova in the Group J Play Stage clash.
Determined to upgrade her Rio silver to a Tokyo gold, PV Sindhu will be looking to make a merry start against the 31-year-old Polikarpova. With arch-rival and 2016 Rio Games gold medallist Carolina Marin out of the mix owing to an unfortunate injury, PV Sindhu has big plans for herself at Tokyo.
On Day 1 of the Tokyo Olympics, although World No. 15 B. Sai Praneeth lost his Group D opener clash against the lower-ranked Israeli, Misha Zilberman, the loss was quickly forgotten as Men's Doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty stole the show. Entering as the dark horses, the young World No. 10 pair from India produced a rousing performance and defeated the World No. 3 combine of Chinese Taipei, Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin, 21-16, 16-21, 27-25.
It can be assumed that PV Sindhu will be looking to continue this winning momentum in the Indian badminton camp as she squares off against Polikarpova, for the third time in her career. In all their 2 meetings earlier, Sindhu had the last word so things should pan out the same way on July 25, as well, for the 2019 World Champion shuttler although their last meeting came in 2015.
Moreover, PV Sindhu has had a good season so far this year - topped by a runner-up finish at the 2021 Swiss Open, a semi-final run at the All England Open 2021 and a quarter-final dash at the Toyota Thailand Open. On the other hand, the World No. 58 player from Israel does not have such results to inspire her and has a lone semi-final appearance at the Lithuanian International to boast of.
It can be expected that a fired-up PV Sindhu will walk into the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza and hit the right notes for her gold medal quest at the Tokyo Olympics.
Schedule and When to Watch?
The venue for all badminton events at the Tokyo Olympics is going to be the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza where all the on-court action is expected to unfurl.
Women's Singles - Group J Play Stage
PV Sindhu [6] v Ksenia Polikarpova not before 7:10 AM IST on July 25, 2021
Live Streaming and Where to Watch?
You can catch all the action LIVE on Sony Sports Network channels in India. You can also live stream it on the Sony LIV application or website if you have the required subscription. Alternatively, you can also watch the match on Doordarshan (DD) Sports in India.
Here are the details of broadcasters in some more countries:
Japan: The Japan Consortium
USA: NBC Universal
UK: BBC, Eurosport
China: CCTV
Australia: Seven Network
Germany: ARD-ZDF
Brazil: Grupo Globo, Bandsports
Spain: RTVE
Italy: RAI
France: Eurosport
South Africa: SABC
