Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the semi-finals of the Japan Open 2026 badminton tournament after Japan’s former world champion Nozomi Okuhara withdrew from their women’s singles quarter-final, according to Olympics.com.
The quarter-final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium was called off before play began. Okuhara, currently ranked world No. 11, had reached the last eight after top seed An Se-young of the Republic of Korea withdrew from their pre-quarterfinal match.
World No. 10 Sindhu will now face China’s world No. 4 Chen Yufei, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, in the semi-finals.
Sindhu secured her place in the quarter-finals after defeating China’s world No. 5 Han Yue earlier in the tournament, according to Olympics.com.
The Indian faces a difficult challenge against Chen, who leads their head-to-head record 8-6. Sindhu has lost her last four meetings against the Chinese shuttler, with her most recent victory coming at the 2019 BWF World Championships, where she went on to win the women’s singles title.
Chen has also enjoyed a strong 2026 season, reaching at least the semi-finals in all nine of her BWF World Tour appearances and winning the Indonesia Masters in January.
The Japan Open marks Sindhu’s third BWF World Tour semi-final of the season after reaching the last four at the Malaysia Open and Australia Open. She is yet to make a final this year, with her most recent World Tour title coming at the 2024 Syed Modi International.
Sindhu is the only Indian left in the tournament after Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty were eliminated in the opening round. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty retired due to injury during their first-round match, while India’s mixed doubles campaign ended in the pre-quarterfinals following the exit of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto.
(With inputs from ANI)
