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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 match, handing the Indian shuttler a walkover, according to Olympics.com.
The quarter-final contest 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 her round-of-16 match. Ranked world No. 10, Sindhu will next take on world No. 4 Chen Yufei of China, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist, in the women's singles semi-finals. Sindhu booked her place in the final eight after defeating world No. 5 Han Yue of China earlier in the tournament, according to Olympics.com. The Indian, however, faces a stern challenge against Chen, who holds an 8-6 head-to-head advantage. 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 claim the gold medal. Chen has also enjoyed an impressive 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 match will mark Sindhu's third semi-final appearance on the BWF World Tour this year after the Malaysia Open and Australia Open. She is yet to reach a final this season, with her last World Tour title coming at the 2024 Syed Modi International. Sindhu is the lone Indian remaining in the tournament after Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty exited in the opening round, while the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty retired hurt during their first-round match. India's doubles campaign had earlier ended in the pre-quarterfinals following Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto's exit from the mixed doubles event. (ANI)
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