Sindhu Reaches Malaysia Open Semifinals as Yamaguchi Retires Hurt

Kuala Lumpur: India’s star shuttler PV Sindhu advanced to the women’s singles semifinals of the Malaysia Open after Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi retired mid-match due to injury at the Axiata Arena on Friday.

The two-time Olympic medallist was firmly in control, leading 21–11 in the opening game, when reigning world champion Yamaguchi informed the chair umpire that she could not continue, citing restricted movement caused by injury.

Yamaguchi, who entered the match wearing a knee brace, appeared uncomfortable from the start. Sindhu capitalised quickly, racing to a commanding 10–2 lead. Although the Japanese player attempted to push Sindhu deep into the backcourt and managed to score 11 points, frequent unforced errors and limited mobility hampered her challenge.

Sindhu needed just 12 minutes to close out the first game before Yamaguchi conceded, handing the Indian her first Super 1000 semifinal appearance in three years. It also marked Sindhu’s first Malaysia Open semifinal in eight years.

In the semifinals, Sindhu will face either sixth-seeded Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia or second-seeded Wang Zhi Yi of China. Earlier, on Thursday, she had defeated 19-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki 21–8, 21–13 in 33 minutes to reach her first Super 1000 quarterfinal of the season.

Later on Friday, India’s men’s doubles duo Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are scheduled to take on Indonesia’s sixth-seeded pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. The third-seeded Indians reached the quarterfinals after a convincing 21–18, 21–11 win over Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in 39 minutes on Thursday, extending their head-to-head record against the Malaysians to 4–0.

Meanwhile, India’s women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand exited the tournament in the opening round on Wednesday after a hard-fought 21–9, 21–23, 21–19 loss to Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari.

With inputs from IANS