{"id":60685,"date":"2026-07-19T09:43:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T09:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/60685\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T09:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T09:43:34","slug":"pv-sindhu-ends-long-title-wait-becomes-first-indian-to-conquer-japan-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/60685\/","title":{"rendered":"PV Sindhu ends long title wait, becomes first Indian to conquer Japan Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"content\">PV Sindhu defeated local Akane Yamaguchi in straight games to clinch her maiden Super 750 title at the Japan Open on Sunday, in Tokyo. The 31-year-old is also the first Indian to win the Japan Open, combining pure attacking display with discipline and composure as she went on to seal the title with a 21-17, 21-17 victory. Sindhu&#8217;s last title came at the Syed Modi International in 2024. It&#8217;s also her biggest victory since her World C&#8217;ships crown in 2019.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BADMINTON-JPN-10_1784437018041_1784437025114_1a0b6b53-94fe-4b9b-baf6-27e3f8f527a7.jpg\" alt=\"Japan Open: PV Sindhu defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the final. (AFP)\" title=\"Japan Open: PV Sindhu defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the final. (AFP)\" width=\"360\" height=\"202\" loading=\"eager\"\/>Japan Open: PV Sindhu defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the final. (AFP)<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Yamaguchi was featuring in her sixth Japan Open final. Also, Sindhu had not defeated her Japanese opponent in a completed match in four years. Their last meeting at the Malaysia Open this year ended with Yamaguchi retiring after the first game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Also Read: <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/sports\/badminton\/pv-sindhu-pays-heartfelt-tribute-to-carolina-marin-in-emotional-farewell-you-were-a-complete-pain-on-the-court-101774622742434.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"PV Sindhu pays heartfelt tribute to Carolina Marin in emotional farewell: &#039;You were a complete pain on the court&#039;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PV Sindhu pays heartfelt tribute to Carolina Marin in emotional farewell: &#8216;You were a complete pain on the court&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">But on Sunday, Sindhu dictated proceedings right from the get-go. She took control of the forecourt with ease and attacked with intent. He kept on restricting Yamaguchi, avoiding any potential comeback. Sindhu&#8217;s net play was also key to her victory, as she kept the shuttle close to the net, forcing Yamaguchi to lift and creating opportunities for her cross-court and body smashes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">The first game was initially tight until 11-11. It broke open after that, and soon Sindhu raced to a 16-12 advantage. At 17-15, they had a 38-shot rally, with Yamaguchi&#8217;s defence keeping her alive. A cross-court smash and then an error from Yamaguchi made it 19-17, and the Japanese found the net again to give Sindhu three game points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">In the second game, Sindhu took early control, leading 11-7 at the interval. Soon she stretched her lead to 14-7, and Yamaguchi did try to stage a comeback with a fine net shot, coupled with some errors from Sindhu, to narrow the gap to 14-12.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Sindhu made more errors as Yamaguchi drew close at 19-17. But then after sending her return, her comeback crumbled and Sindhu wrapped up proceedings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PV Sindhu defeated local Akane Yamaguchi in straight games to clinch her maiden Super 750 title at the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39391,8,39409,39427,33,37770,39425,39426],"class_list":["post-60685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-akane-yamaguchi","tag-japan","tag-japan-open-2026","tag-japan-open-badminton","tag-nihon","tag-pv-sindhu","tag-pv-sindhu-japan-open","tag-pv-sindhu-vs-akane-yamaguchi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}