Sindhu enters Japan Open 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 pull out with a hamstring injury.

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.

"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."

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 the fourth-seeded 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 relied on her attacking game and sharp net play to dictate the rallies against the Chinese.

A delightful drop shot followed by a thunderous smash to Chen's deep forehand corner helped the Indian pull ahead early. She then produced a superb backhand defensive block to carry a handy 11-7 cushion into the mid-game interval.

Looking at her physical best, Sindhu displayed remarkable hand speed and repeatedly pushed Chen to the backcourt before drawing her to the forecourt, disrupting the Chinese player's rhythm.

Chen regained her bearings after the interval, tightening her defence and finding greater penetration with her attack to gradually close the gap to 15-17.

A gripping 51-shot rally followed, with both players refusing to yield before Chen eventually hit wide. Sindhu then sent one long and Chen fired a straight smash to level the scores at 18-18.

But the Indian responded emphatically, unleashing two fierce smashes that Chen could only find the net with, as Sindhu celebrated with a fist pump.

Sindhu raced to a 3-0 lead in the second game before Chen reduced the deficit to 3-4. The Indian answered with another cross-court smash to stay in front.

Chen's jump smash helped her narrow the gap to 7-8, but Sindhu responded with a delicate drop shot and a powerful smash to establish an 11-7 advantage at the interval.

Leading 13-8, Sindhu peppered Chen's backhand with three successive smashes to extend her control. A cross-court winner then made it 15-10, after which Chen called for a medical timeout. The Chinese eventually retired from the contest clutching her leg.

"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."