Tai Tzu-ying handed tough draw for World Tour Finals, to face PV Sindhu, Ratchanok Intanon

Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying has a tough draw awaiting in the BWF World Tour Finals in Thailand,
being pitted against home favourite Ratchanok Intanon and Indian star PV Sindhu on Tuesday.

Thailand’s
Pornpawee Chochuwong is the fourth player along with the world number one Tai, former
world champion Intanon and Olympic silver medallist Sindhu for the group
stage of the tournament, AFP reported.

Also Read | PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth look to turn the tide at BWF World Tour Finals

Delayed
because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 season finale is the third behind-closed-doors
event to be held in the Thai capital of Bangkok in three weeks with Badminton returning
after months of inactivity due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile,
Spanish top seed Carolina Marin, who is looking to notch a hat-trick of wins in
Bangkok, will face South Korean teenager An Se-young, Canadian Michelle Li and
Russia’s Evegeniya Kosetskaya in Group A.

In the men’s
singles, Danish Viktor Axelsen will face Taiwan’s world number two Chou
Tien-chen, Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia.

Also Read | Tennis player Rafael Nadal takes veiled swipe at Novak Djokovic over quarantine complaints

Men’s champion
Kento Momota was forced to withdraw from the tournament, along with the entire
Japanese team, after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The Chinese
team, including woman’s champion Chen Yufei, were not able to travel because of
the country’s stringent COVID-19 rules.

Four people
inside Bangkok’s ‘bio-bubble’ have tested positive, despite strict bio-security
arrangements, including two players who were forced to withdraw.