Ishan Crawford PV Sindhu reached the Japan Open final on Saturday after Chen Yufei retired hurt with a hamstring injury. The former Olympic champion had beaten Sindhu five straight times. Sindhu was leading 21-19, 15-10 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium when Chen pulled out, handing the Indian her first win over the Chinese star since 2019.
The result caps a year-long ranking climb that has carried Sindhu from No. 18 in January into the world’s top 10, and it sets up a Sunday final against home favorite Akane Yamaguchi, who has already beaten Sindhu once this season.
Chen Yufei’s Injury Ends the Match Early
Chen, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist and current World No. 4, looked the stronger player on paper going in. She arrived unbeaten at the semifinal stage all year, reaching at least the last four in each of her nine BWF World Tour appearances in 2026 and winning the Indonesia Masters in January.
None of that mattered once the hamstring gave out. Sindhu had already closed out the first game 21-19 and built a 15-10 cushion in the second when Chen signaled she could not continue.
“I’m very happy that I’ve gone to the final,” Sindhu said after the match. She pointed to focus, not power or tactics, as the difference across a demanding week.
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.
Sindhu said that in her on court interview after the semifinal, reflecting on a week in which she had to raise her level against three top-10 opponents in a row.
A Ranking Climb from No. 18 to the Top Ten
Saturday’s result is the clearest marker yet of a comeback that has defined Sindhu’s year. She opened 2026 ranked No. 18, a steep fall from the career-high No. 2 she held in April 2017, and has worked her way back to No. 10 by the time she landed in Tokyo.
Her ranking had dipped to world No. 17 in July 2023 amid injuries and patchy form, barely enough to qualify for the Paris Olympics the following year. She brought in South Korean coach Lee Hyun-il, a former World No. 1, in September 2024, while her longtime coach Irwansyah has pushed her publicly to play with more aggression.
Reaching this final closes out a run of firsts for the 31-year-old:
- First Indian woman to reach a Japan Open final
- First Super 750 final since the 2019 Indonesia Open
- First final of any kind since the Syed Modi International in December 2024
- First win over Chen Yufei since the 2019 BWF World Championships, snapping a five-match losing streak
She was also the last Indian standing in Tokyo this week. Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty both lost in the first round, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were forced to retire hurt in their opening doubles match.
The Rivalry That Has Owned Her Since 2019
Before Saturday, Chen led their head-to-head 8-6, and Sindhu had not beaten her in five tries. The last Sindhu win came at the 2019 BWF World Championships semifinal in Basel, a straight-games result that sent her into the final she went on to win, still the only world title of her career.
Chen has largely had the better of the rivalry since. She reached a career-high BWF World Ranking of No. 1 by December 2019 and later added Olympic gold in Tokyo. Every meeting between the two after that Basel semifinal went Chen’s way, until Saturday.
Sindhu’s Route Through Tokyo
Sindhu’s run to the final leaned on more than one opponent’s misfortune, but it started with straightforward tennis. She dropped only one game across four matches before the semifinal, needing a little over half an hour to see off World No. 5 Han Yue in the round of 16, a result that pushed her head-to-head record against the Chinese player to 8-1.
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First round | Wong Ling Ching (Malaysia) | Won 21-14, 21-17 |
| Round of 16 | Han Yue (China, World No. 5) | Won 21-16, 21-14 |
| Quarterfinal | Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) | Walkover, Okuhara withdrew injured |
| Semifinal | Chen Yufei (China, World No. 4) | Won 21-19, 15-10, retired |
| Final | Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, World No. 3) | Sunday, July 19 |
Two of Sindhu’s four matches before the final ended without her needing to finish them. That has spared her legs a little heading into Sunday, even if it means she has had less match time than Yamaguchi to sharpen her game under full pressure.
Akane Yamaguchi Brings Three World Titles and a Recent Win
Yamaguchi is a different proposition. The World No. 3 is a three-time world champion, having beaten Chen in the 2025 Paris final to claim her most recent title, and she got past Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani, ranked sixth, to reach Sunday’s match.
She is also chasing tournament history of her own. Yamaguchi has already won the Japan Open four times; a fifth title would move her past Li Lingwei as the most successful woman in the event’s history. She arrives at the final ranked third in the world, one spot above Chen and seven ahead of Sindhu.
The two have already split two meetings this season. Yamaguchi retired hurt against Sindhu in the Malaysia Open quarterfinals back in January. She then beat Sindhu in straight games at the Australian Open semifinals in July, just a week before both arrived in Tokyo.
New Delhi Waits a Month Away
Whatever happens on Sunday, the Japan Open is the last Super 750 event before the sport’s biggest prize returns to Indian soil. The BWF World Championships open in New Delhi on August 17, the first time India has hosted the event since 2009, and Sindhu will arrive there with ranking points and match form she has not carried into a major in years.
Yamaguchi will not make it easy on Sunday. The third seed needed a comeback win over Kim Ga Eun to reach her own semifinal, and the host nation has won every match it has played in Tokyo this week.
Win or lose on Sunday, Sindhu leaves Tokyo back inside the world’s top 10 for the first time since early 2023, finally past the rival who had owned her since the week she won her only world title.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Tier Is the Japan Open on the BWF World Tour?
The Japan Open is a Super 750 event, one tier below the Super 1000 tournaments such as the All England Open and Indonesia Open. Its ranking points still make it one of the most valuable non major titles on the calendar, which is why both finalists treated this week as a proving ground before August.
Has an Indian Woman Won the Japan Open Before?
No. No Indian shuttler, man or woman, had previously reached a Japan Open singles final before Sindhu’s run to the 2026 championship match, making Sunday’s final a first regardless of the result.
When and Where Are the 2026 BWF World Championships?
The 2026 BWF World Championships run from August 17 to 23 at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi. It is the 30th edition of the event and India’s first time hosting the World Championships since Hyderabad in 2009.
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