India's PV Sindhu credited her focus, composure and guidance from her coach after reaching the women's singles final of the Japan Open 2026 on Saturday, defeating China's Chen Yufei in a semi-final that ended prematurely due to her opponent's injury.
Sindhu was leading 21-19, 15-10 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium when the former Olympic champion retired with a hamstring issue, sending the Indian into her maiden BWF Super 750 final and her first BWF World Tour title clash since December 2024.
Speaking after the match, Sindhu said maintaining concentration from the opening rally was central to her game plan against one of the world's best players.
“I’m very happy that I’ve gone to the finals. For me, every match mattered a lot from game one and today’s match especially, was important from the beginning to be focused because when you play with top ranked players, it’s important that every point matters. So, winning that first game really mattered a lot,” Sindhu told Olympic.com after the game.
The victory ended a run of four successive defeats to Chen Yufei and marked Sindhu's first win over the Chinese shuttler since the 2019 BWF World Championships semi-finals. It also made the two-time Olympic medallist the first Indian to reach the women's singles final at the Japan Open.
Sindhu revealed that her coach played a key role in helping her stay calm when Chen narrowed the gap late in the opening game after the Indian had established a healthy lead.
“I was very focused and my coach kept saying, because I was leading the first game and Chen Yufei came quite close, it was important to be more focused. Sometimes when you’re leading and you give away points, you suddenly get disheartened thinking ‘why are these points going’ or ‘I was leading’...so lot of emotions go in your head, but my coach was saying that it’s ok, it doesn’t matter, just focus on the next point. And that really helped,” she added.
The opening game proved to be the defining phase of the contest. After racing ahead early, Sindhu had to withstand a spirited fightback from the world No. 4 before closing out the set 21-19, giving her a crucial advantage heading into the second game.
The Indian also pointed to one extended exchange that boosted her confidence before explaining how she approached the second game until Chen was forced to stop because of injury.
“And even in the second set, there were long rallies, especially in the first game- that long rally which happened and I won it, that one was very important for me to get that point. And in the second game as well, it was important for me to be focused from the first point because it was going quite equal. Even though I was leading by 2 points, she was covering and coming back. And after 11, I was maintaining that 3-4 points lead. But unfortunately, she had to retire,” the ace shuttler stated.
Sindhu, currently ranked world No. 12, will now take on Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, the world No. 3 and three-time world champion, in Sunday's final. It will be Sindhu's first appearance in a BWF Super 750 final and an opportunity to claim her biggest title since lifting the Syed Modi International crown in December 2024.
--IANS
