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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy that I\u2019ve gone to the finals. For me, every match mattered a lot from game one and today\u2019s match especially, was important from the beginning to be focused because when you play with top ranked players, it\u2019s important that every point matters. So, winning that first game really mattered a lot,\u201d Sindhu told Olympic.com after the game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI 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\u2019re leading and you give away points, you suddenly get disheartened thinking \u2018why are these points going\u2019 or \u2018I was leading\u2019...so lot of emotions go in your head, but my coach was saying that it\u2019s ok, it doesn\u2019t matter, just focus on the next point. And that really helped,\u201d she added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n