Sindhu advances to Malaysia Open semis after Yamaguchi retires

Two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu advanced to the semifinals of Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (January 9, 2026) after her opponent Akane Yamaguchi of Japan retired from their quarterfinal game due to an injury.

Sindhu took the opening game 21-11 before the three-time world champion and third seed Yamaguchi, who was wearing a knee brace, decided to pull out of the match.

The win took world no.18 Sindhu’s head-to-head record to 15-12 against the third-ranked Yamaguchi.

Sindhu is competing in her first tournament after returning from a prolonged injury lay-off.

In the semifinals, she will face the winner of the quarterfinal between second seed Wang Zhiyi of China and Indonesian sixth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani.

Later in the day, India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in their quarterfinal.