PV Sindhu reaches Malaysia Open 2026 semifinal as Akane Yamaguchi retires in quarterfinal

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], January 9 (ANI): Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu reached the semifinals of the ongoing Malaysia Open 2026 as third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan retired hurt after losing the opening game 21-11, giving Sindhu a semis spot a day after she played a solid match to beat 8th seed Tomoka Miyazaki, according to ESPN.
Sindhu's win against Yamaguchi means she will now face the winner of the match between China's Wang Zhiyi and Indonesia's PK Wardani, who will square off later on Friday.
PV Sindhu, ranked 18, had outplayed eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan to book her place in the final eight of the ongoing Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 1000 event.
India's two-time Olympic medallist, PV Sindhu, defeated world No. 33 Sung Shuo-yun of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 22-20 earlier to advance to the second round in her first-round match. Sindhu dominated the opening game, 21-8, and maintained momentum to seal the match 21-13 in the second game.
While Sindhu advanced to the semis, India's men's singles star Lakshya Sen crashed out of the Malaysia Open, losing to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in the singles pre-quarterfinals at the Stadium Axiata Arena on Thursday.
Lakshya Sen, 13th in the badminton rankings, lost 22-20, 21-15 against world No. 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, China, in 53 minutes, as per Olympics.com.
The 24-year-old Indian shuttler had a promising start, leading 11-9 at the interval and even holding four game points in the opening game. However, Lee Cheuk Yiu's six consecutive points turned the tide, and he took the opener in a tie-break. Sen couldn't recover, losing the second game as well.
This was Lakshya Sen's third defeat in five matches against Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Eyes will also be on India's star duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who will be facing off against Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the men's doubles quarterfinals. (ANI)