Rio Olympics 2016 Badminton Highlights: PV Sindhu Beats Wang Yihan To Seal Semi-Final Berth

Ninth-seeded PV Sindhu defeated China's Wang Yihan 22-20, 21-19 in a quarterfinal match of the Rio Olympics 2016 women's singles badminton competition to progress to the semi-final. Catch badminton live score and updates of PV Sindhu vs Wang Yihan here. (SCHEDULE | MEDAL TALLY)

04:44 IST: Both the players exchange greetings as crowd cheers for both of them. It is a special moment for Sindhu, who will shoulder a huge responsibility to end India's medal drought in the competition so far. Thank you for joining us for today's coverage. Good night!

04:38 IST: And she has done it! PV Sindhu marches to women's singles semi-finals with a 22-20,21-19 win over Wang Yihan.

04:37 IST:  Sindhu yells in excitement as she makes it 20-19. The Indian fans cheer louder.

04:35 IST: Wang makes it 18-18, showing excellent nerves against Sindhu. And then imposes a 19-18 lead.

04:33 IST: A superb comeback by Wang and she lessens the gap between her and Sindhu. It's 18-17 now.

04:32 IST: A series of brilliant aces tilts the game in Sindhu's favour as she is now 18-13 up.

04:29 IST: Every point won by Sindhu is greeted with applause from the Indian fans here. She is already 15-12 up and eager to finish the proceedings quickly. However, Wang gains another point to narrow the margin.

04:25 IST: The second game is now full of excitement. Sindhu still has a 14-12 lead over her Chinese opponent.

04:23 IST:  PV Sindhu is playing with her trademark aggression, pumping fists after winning each point. Extends her lead to 11-8.

04:20 IST:  PV Sindhu continues to maximise her lead. However, Wang is not ready to give in as she gains another point. The scoreline reads 9-4.

04:18 IST: After trailing 2-5, Wang comes back strongly and narrows the gap to 3-6.

04:14 IST: PV Sindhu will serve for second game, and quickly gains the lead. The scoreline reads 4-2 at the moment.

04:12 IST: And Sindhu takes the first game 22-20. What a comeback from the Indian badminton star after being 0-3 at one stage.

04:11 IST: Wang levels the scores and now she will serve again. However, it's Sindhu who gets the points and goes 21-20 up.

04:10 IST: It was  the longest rally of the match so far and it took a lot of efforts from Wang to make the scoreline 20-19.

04:08 IST: Sindhu gains two quick points and imposes a 20-18 lead.

04:07 IST: After levelling it 18-18, Wang wins a challenge and goes 19-18 up.

04:05 IST: It was a costly miss by Wang Yihan and Sindhu pumps her fist in excitement. She leads 18-17.

04:04 IST: A superb rally by Sindhu helps her to come back and level the first game 17-17.

04:02 IST: Wang quickly returns the favour and now leads 17-15 again.

04:01 IST: Sindhu for the first time in the game imposes a lead over Wang. The scoreline reading 15-14 in the Indian shuttler's favour.

03:59 IST: Wang gives up her lead as Sindhu comes back strongly to make it 13-13.

03:58 IST: Some attacking strokeplay helps Sindhu to make the scoreline 12-11. The crowd is going berserk with the Indian star's strong resilience.

03:55 IST: After a mini-drinks break both the players are out in the middle. The scoreline reads 12-8 at the moment.

03:51 IST: Sindhu is lucky as the crowd boosts her morale after every point, chanting 'India..India' after a serve and return. However, Wang is already 10-7 up in the first game.

03:49 IST: After trailing 3-5, Sindhu evokes applause from the crowd after gaining a point. Continues her attack to level first game 5-5.

03:47 IST: Sindhu makes it 2-4. Right from the start, Wang has not let the Indian shuttler breathe easy, making her toil hard for every single point.

03:46 IST: Wang trebles the lead, before Sindhu comes from behind to gain her first point of the game.

03:44 IST:  Wang to serve for first game, and the Chinese shuttler goes 2-0 up early.

03:41 IST: Indian fans are out there, cheering for Sindhu who is shouldering India's medal hopes. The ongoing Olympic Games have been a disappointing one for them so far.

03:39 IST: Finally, the much-awaited game is about to start. Wang Yihan, the London Olympics silver medallist, will face PV Sindhu. Both the players have arrived on the court.

03:35 IST: Li Xuerui beats Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-12, 21-17 in two straight games to advance to women's singles semi-finals. She will face Carolina Marin of Spain, who defeated South Korea's Hyun Ji Sung 21-12, 21-16.

03:31 IST: Former World No 1 Xuerui was once leading 14-9, but her Thai opponent has come back strongly and levelled the score 15-15.

03:17 IST: Meanwhile, China's LI Xuerui is playing Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the women's singles quarter-final on Court 1. Sindhu's match will begin shortly.

03:04 IST: Sindhu stormed into the quarter-finals with a 21-13,21-15 win over Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Yin in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. On the other hand, Wang will be playing her first match in Rio, since she received a bye in the first round.

03:02 IST: Good evening and welcome to the live coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics women's singles quarter-final match between PV Sindhu and Wang Yihan. Few minutes are left for this exciting match as the Indian badminton star gears up for a stiff test against her Chinese opponent.

PV Sindhu remains India's best hope for a medal in Badminton.

© AFP

The match between PV Sindhu and Wang Yihan will be played at RioCentro Pavilion from 3:25 AM IST (Wednesday).

In the women's competition, Sindhu remains India's only hope after Saina Nehwal, who took bronze in London to become her country's first medallist in the sport, slumped to a 21-18 21-19 defeat by world number 61 and unseeded Ukrainian Maria Ulitina in the group stage.

Sindhu, world No. 10, defeated Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-15 in the pre-quarterfinals. Ying was the eighth seed in the Olympics. Sindhu needed all of 40 minutes to win the match.

Wang Yihan will be tough to beat. The Chinese world No. 2 has a 4-2 win-loss record against Sindhu. But in their latest match in Denmark Open, Sindhu had beaten Wang 21018, 21-19.

Having received a bye in the first round, the match against Sindhu will be Wang's first in Rio. She had won the silver medal in London 2012.