Live updates: Sameer Verma’s much-improved season continues to grow as his patience and defensive skills have helped him immensely this year. Verma, who is ranked 14th in the world will take on the All England Open champion Shi Yuqi. The Chinese is the favourite in the match, but Verma will have see no further than his win against the same opponent in Denmark.
Sameer Verma crashes out
After Shi Yuqi raced away to a 20-14 lead, Verma had very little chance to turn the match in his favour. The Indian fought hard, picking up three consecutive points before losing the match 21-12, 20-22, 17-21.
Match point for Shi Yuqi
Shi Yuqi is standing just one point away from a place in the final. He has probed away at the Indian and got his reward.
Shi Yuqi leads 17-12
Shi Yuqi smashes one towards Verma’s forehand and the Indian fails to pick it up. The Chinese leads 17-12.
Yuqi’s unsuccessful challenge
Sameer Verma manages to make it 10-14, but the Chinese isn’t happy with a line call. The replays show that Verma hit the shuttle just on the line and therefore the line umpire’s decision stays.
Verma trails 9-12
The match seems to be slipping out of Verma’s hands. The Indian leaps on his forehand side but his unable to pick up a smash from Yuqi. The Chinese leads 12-9.
Yuqi’s jump smash
Shi Yuqi jumps up and executes a cross court smash perfectly to lead 10-9. The Chinese takes another point following an unforced error by Verma.
Verma’s unsuccessful challenge
Sameer Verma hits the shuttle long, but isn’t convinced by the line umpire’s decision. He challenges the call, but the replays show that the shuttle fell outside the line. The Chinese leads 8-6.
Verma hurts his finger
Sameer Verma takes a medical break. He has hurt his middle finger and the medical team is putting a band-aid on.
Verma hits one long
Sameer Verma goes for a smash towards Yuqi’s backhand and sends the shuttle outside the sideline. The Chinese leads 7-4.
Yuqi pulls off a down the line smash
Shi Yuqi is playing his best badminton in the third game. He pulls off a fantastic down the line smash to lead 6-2 in the third game.
Yuqi gets off to a good start
Shi Yuqi gets into a smashing mode and keeps sending down thunderous shots down Verma’s throat. The Indians picked four smashes until he sent the shuttle into the net to concede a 4-0 lead.
Shi Yuqi takes the second game
Shi Yuqi snatches the second game away from Sameer Verma. He wins 22-20. The Indian seemed to lose his touch in the last couple of points in the previous game.
Yuqi leads 21-20
Sameer Verma had a chance to finish the match at 20-19, but Yuqi manages to get ahead in the second game. Can he finish it off?
Verma trails 17-19
Sameer Verma is just losing the plot here. Two unforced errors gives the Chinese a chance to get his nose in front.
Yuqi plays a out a fantastic rally
Sameer Verma lept to his left to get to a smash. He puts the shuttle back into play but Yuqi’s relentless smashes finally gets the better of the Indian. He levels the score at 16-16.
Shi Yuqi fights back
Shi Yuqi wins three points in a row to make it 14-14 in the second game. The Chinese doesn’t seem to have a clear cut plan and is mostly banking on Verma’s unforced errors.
Verma’s cheeky drop shot
Sameer Verma cheekily drops the shuttle close to the net and Yuqi fails to get to it. The India leads 14-11.
Yuqi is still in this game
Shi Yuqi is not going to let this go. The Chinese sets himself up for a smash and executes it beautifully. He trails 11-12 in the second game.
Verma leads 11-9
Sameer Verma has put his nose in front at the break. He leads 11-9. However, he has got to be careful with unforced errors in the rest of the game.
Verma leads 9-8
Sameer Verma crawls his way back into this match. After committing a few unforced errors, Verma finds his rhythm again to lead at 9-8.
Verma wins a smashing rally
Verma and Yuqi get into a smashing rally and guess what? The Indian gets into great positions to tackle the smashes from Yuqi before finishing off the point. However, the Chinese still leads 8-5.
Yuqi leads 6-2
Sameer Verma struggles to get to a drop shot and hits the shuttle onto the net. The Indian trails 2-6 in the second game.
Yuqi off to a good start in the second game
Sameer Verma is just getting into a few unforced errors here. The Chinese cashes in and takes a 4-0 lead in the second game.
Verma wins the first game 21-12
Sameer Verma draws first blood in this semi-final. He wins the first game 21-12. The Indian has looked good in this match. He is surely the favourite to book a place in the final at the moment.
Verma in the driver’s seat
Verma smashes the shuttle towards Yuqi’s forehand and moves ahead at 17-12. The Indian is looking good to win the first game of this semi-final.
Yuqi commits unforced errors
Verma is moving very well on the court. The Indian is just looking to keep the shuttle in play and Yuqi is conceding points by committing unforced errors. The Chinese nonchalantly hit a shuttle onto the net and hit one outside the line. Verma leads 14-11.
Verma leads 11-10
Sameer Verma is tackling everything thrown at him by the Chinese. The Indian is anticipating all the smashes before playing his finishing shots. He leads 11-10 at the break.
Verma gets his nose in front
The drop shot game by Shi Yuqi is been countered beautifully by Verma. The Indian is picking up all the shots at the net before setting himself up for the smash. Verma leads 7-6.
Shi Yuqi takes a 4-2 lead
China’s Shi Yuqi gets off to a great start in this semi-final against Sameer Verma. He is attacking the Indian with drop shots at the net.
Players are out
Both the players are going through the warmups. This one promises to be a real humdinger.
The wait continues
Sameer Verma and Shi Yuqi will have to wait a bit longer to come on court as Huang and Siwei have won the second game comfortably 21-14 to take the match into a decider
Sindhu enters the final
The Indian ace shuttler showed tremendous tenacity and skills to overpower Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 25-23 . All eyes will now be on Sameer Verma who takes on Shi Yuqi.
Credit: Source link
