PV Sindhu reaches first final in over two years at Japan Open

PV Sindhu reached her first final in more than two years after China's Chen Yufei retired injured during their Japan Open women's singles semifinal. Sindhu, who led 21-19, 15-10, will face either Akane Yamaguchi or Putri Kusuma Wardani in Sunday's final.

Tokyo: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu entered her first final in more than two years after Tokyo Olympics champion Chen Yufei of China retired midway through their women’s singles semifinal at the Japan Open here on Saturday.

The 31-year-old Indian was leading 21-19, 15-10 when world No. 4 Chen was forced to retire with a hamstring injury.

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It will be Sindhu’s first final since winning the Syed Modi International in Lucknow in 2024. She had also finished runner-up at the Malaysia Open Super 500 earlier that year. Her last major title came at the Singapore Open Super 500 in 2022.

In Sunday’s summit clash, Sindhu will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani.

World No. 12 Sindhu had entered the contest trailing 6-8 in her head-to-head record against fourth seed Chen, who had won each of their previous four meetings, including a straight-games victory at this year’s Indonesia Masters.

Sindhu’s last win over Chen had come in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships, where she went on to become India’s first badminton world champion.

Sindhu made a positive start, edging ahead 6-5 before opening up an 11-7 advantage at the mid-game interval. Chen fought back to draw level at 18-18, but the Indian held her nerve to claim the opening game.

Sindhu carried the momentum into the second game and had raced to a 15-10 lead before Chen was forced to retire because of the injury.