Tokyo [Japan], July 18 (ANI): Indian badminton star PV Sindhu superior to the ladies’s singles closing of the Japan Open 2026 after her semi-final opponent Chen Yufei of the People’s Republic of China retired damage halfway via the second sport on Saturday.
The Olympic medallist, ranked twelfth on this planet, was main the match 21-19, 15-10 on the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium when Chen, the world No. 4 and former Olympic champion, withdrew on account of a hamstring damage, in accordance with Olympics.com.
Sindhu will now tackle Japan’s world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi within the title conflict on Sunday. Yamaguchi booked her place within the closing after defeating Indonesia’s sixth-ranked Putri Kusuma Wardani within the different semi-final.
The closing will mark Sindhu’s first look in a BWF World Tour title conflict since she received the Syed Modi International Super 300 event in December 2024. It will even be her maiden closing look at a BWF Super 750 occasion.
Coming into the semi-final with an 8-6 head-to-head file in opposition to Chen, Sindhu made a robust begin and raced to a 16-11 lead within the opening sport. However, Chen, who had defeated Sindhu of their earlier 4 conferences, fought again to stage the rating at 18-18. Sindhu held her nerve within the closing phases to take the primary sport 21-19.
The Indian continued her momentum within the second sport and maintained the lead earlier than Chen was pressured to cease the competition after 44 minutes on account of damage, in accordance with Olympics.com.
Sindhu’s earlier win over Chen had come within the semi-finals of the 2019 BWF World Championships, the place the Indian went on to assert the title.
With this victory, Sindhu turned the primary Indian shuttler to succeed in the Japan Open closing. She can also be the one Indian participant remaining within the event this yr.
India’s marketing campaign within the occasion noticed early exits for Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty, who have been knocked out within the opening spherical, whereas the lads’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty needed to retire damage throughout their first match. The combined doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto additionally bowed out within the pre-quarterfinals. (ANI)