Tokyo, July 18:
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu sailed into her first Super 750 semifinal in nearly three years after former world champion Nozomi Okuhara withdrew ahead of their women’s singles quarterfinal match at the Japan Open here on Friday.
The 31-year-old Indian, the 2019 world champion, will feature in the last four of a Super 750 event for the first time since the Denmark Open in 2023. It is also her third semifinal appearance of the season, following impressive runs at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and the Australian Open Super 500.
Ironically, Okuhara had herself benefited from a withdrawal in the pre-quarterfinals, progressing after South Korea’s An Se-young pulled out with a left foot injury.
Sindhu’s reward is a semifinal clash against Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei, who brushed aside South Korea’s Sim Yu Jin 21-10, 21-12 to secure her place in the last four at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
The fourth-seeded Chinese holds an 8-6 head-to-head advantage over world No. 12 Sindhu and has won each of their last four meetings, including a straight-games victory at this year’s Indonesia Masters.
Sindhu’s most recent win over Chen came in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships, where she went on to script history by becoming India’s first badminton world champion.