Thailand Open 2022: PV Sindhu defeats Yamaguchi to enter semifinals

PV Sindhu ensured India's campaign at the Thailand Open stayed strong as she put up a stellar performance against World Champion Akane Yamaguchi and defeated her, 21-15, 20-22, 21-13 in a match that went the full length. She will take on Olympic champion Chen Yufei in the semi-finals tomorrow at the Impact Arena, Bangkok.

This was the 2-time Olympic medallist's 14th win over the Japanese, who is known for her lithe and athletic movements on the court.

With all other Indian shuttlers having exited the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament, PV Sindhu is the only one remaining in the fray. With this win, she also keeps India's medal chances alive as she made it to her 4th straight BWF semi-final after the Swiss Open, Korea Open and the Badminton Asia Championships and also confirmed a bronze.

Sindhu is enjoying good form and could show plenty of aggression against Yamaguchi in the first game, who in turn, also displayed a lot of resistance and snatched the second game away from Sindhu to force the match into a decider. Once into the third game, Sindhu was relentless and did not give space for Yamaguchi to attack much as the former World Champion did it in style to seal the deal.

Keeping toe to toe with each other throughout the match, Sindhu and Yamaguchi engaged in some tense rallies that saw the both of them produce some beautiful winners and net shots and the occasional trademark Sindhu smashes. However, Yamaguchi seemed to be struggling a little with a suspected back problem, as well.

With Coach Park Tae-sang also back in her corner after a little break, PV Sindhu's hunger for winning has only grown and she was all-class against the reigning World Champion and booked her place in the semi-finals and confirmed the bronze medal for India.