Japan Open 2026: Fiery PV Sindhu storms into first final in 2 years

PV Sindhu has ended a long wait to make it to the final on tour as she defeated Chen Yufei on Saturday, July 18 in the Japan Open. This is the first time that Sindhu made it to the summit clash of the tournament in her career and ended a five-game losing streak to the Chinese opponent.

The Indian shuttler won the match 21-19, 15-10 as Yufei was forced to retire in the second game of the tie due to a hamstring injury. Sindhu will face Akane Yamaguchi of Japan or Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia on Sunday, July 19 in the final. Sindhu looked to be at the peak of her powers against Yufei, and it seemed like the walkover she got in the quarterfinal allowed her to recharge before the clash.

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Sindhu looked to be more proactive throughout the contest, expertly navigating through the Chinese ace's defence and working well with her own transitions.

"I'm very happy that I've gone to the final," Sindhu said after the match.

"For me every match mattered a lot from the first match, especially today's match. It was important from the beginning to be focused because when you play with the top-ranked players it's important that every point matters so winning that first game really mattered a lot."

HOW THE MATCH UNFOLDED

Sindhu last played a final in 2024, when she won the Syed Modi International. Going up against Yufei, her plan was simple. To take the lead and retain it for a long period. The start to the contest was far from ideal as Yufei held the lead early on.

Sindhu was able to dig deep and went on a four-point winning run to put herself in a strong position at 10-5. She went into the break with the advantage and had some quick words with her coach, who told her to be on the offensive.

Yufei was the one to apply the pressure right after the restart as the contest quickly came a cagey affair with both shuttlers not giving an inch to their opponent. What worked for Sindhu was her cross-drop shots, which were stretching Yufei and she extended her lead to five points.

Yufei showed why she had the number of Sindhu in their last few encounters and came back into the contest but cutting the deficit to one point. Both stars engaged in an incredible 51 shot rally that ended with Sindhu being able to get the edge.

But Yufei wasn't ready to give up without a fight, and soon the arena was on their feet as both women were tied at 19-19. This sparked the much-needed fieryness to Sindhu's game as she gave out a loud roar after taking the lead in the crunch moment and then wrapping up the first game.

The second one started much like the first one as she raced to an early lead and was able to hold on despite Yufei's efforts.

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She went into the break with an 11-7 advantage and was simply too strong for her opponent, who slowly started to feel the effects of her hamstring injury and had to throw in the towel at the end.

"I was very focused and my coach kept saying because I was leading the first game and then she came quite close it was important that I be more focused because sometimes when you're leading and you give away points you suddenly get disheartened, so a lot of emotions go in your head," Sindhu said.

"My coach was saying that it doesn't matter just focus on the next point and I think that really helped. Even in the second set there were long rallies and especially in the first game that long rally which happened and I won the rally I think that one was very important for me.

"In the second game as well I was focused from the first point because it was going quite equal and even though I was two points leading, she was covering and coming back and I think after 11, I was maintaining that three four points but yeah unfortunately she had to retire."

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The win continued Sindhu's fine run in the tournament, which has already seen her stun World No.5 Han Yue.

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