P. V. Sindhu
A day after being handed a walkover, Indian veteran P.V. Sindhu is through to the women’s singles finals at the Japan Open badminton championships after her opponent retired injured.
She was leading 21-19, 15-10 when fourth seeded Chen Yufei conceded the match after picking up a hamstring injury. Even without the retirement, Sindhu was in scintillating form, putting Yufei on the defence with her attacking game.
Sindhu will take on four-time Japan Open champion Akane Yamaguchi in the final.
Sindhu’s last World Tour final at a Super 500 tournament was over 25 months ago – the Malaysia Masters in May 2024. For anything above that level, the clock has to be dialled back 55 months, when she was in the title round of the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.
Yamaguchi, who had pulled off an escape act in her quarterfinal, once again dragged herself back into contention in the semifinals after being blitzed 21-9 in the opening game by Putri Kusuma Wardani before winning 9-21, 21-16, 21-14.
Like she has innumerable times before, Yamaguchi kept up her relentless pace, deflating Wardani with sheer stubbornness even in the most hopeless of situations.
The men’s singles final will see unseeded Koki Watanabe of Japan taking on fifth seed Christo Popov of France.
Watanabe defeated teammate Yushi Tanaka 19-21, 23-21, 21-19 while Popov defeated another Japanese – Kodai Naraoka 21-14, 21-11.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 19-21, 23-21, 21-19; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-14, 21-11
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) 21-12, 11-21, 21-13; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-14, 19-21, 21-18
Women’s singles: P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-19, 15-10 rtd; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 9-21, 21-16, 21-14
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-Jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Hsu Yin-Hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) 21-18, 21-18; Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) 21-15, 12-21, 23-21
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-13, 21-8; Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) bt Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) 17-21, 21-18, 21-18
