All posts tagged: Akane Yamaguchi

PV Sindhu reaches Australian Open semi-finals, Tanvi Sharma’s run ends

PV Sindhu reaches Australian Open semi-finals, Tanvi Sharma’s run ends

Published by Webster

PV Sindhu moved a step closer to ending her title drought after powering into the women’s singles semi-finals of the Australian Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Sydney on Friday. The two-time Olympic medallist produced a clinical performance in the quarter-finals, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Su Yu 21-6, 21-9 in just 27 minutes. The third seed controlled the contest from the outset, using her experience and superior court coverage to dominate both games and seal her place in the last four. Sindhu will now face top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a highly anticipated semi-final clash. The Indian shuttler holds a narrow 15-13 advantage in their head-to-head record, setting up an intriguing contest between two of the most experienced players on the women’s circuit. The semi-final appearance marks an encouraging turnaround for Sindhu, who has endured an inconsistent season while searching for her best form on the BWF World Tour. She is also chasing her first title since winning the Syed Modi International in December 2024. Tanvi’s impressive campaign comes to an end Earlier …

PV Sindhu reflects after Thailand Open exit

PV Sindhu reflects after Thailand Open exit

Published by Webster

PV Sindhu bowed out of the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Thailand Open Super 500 after a hard-fought three-game loss to top seed and World No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi on Friday. Sindhu went down 21-19, 18-21, 15-21 in a contest that lasted a little over an hour, showing flashes of her attacking best before the Japanese star pulled away in the decider. Reflecting on the narrow defeat, Sindhu admitted that small margins made the difference. “I think I could have converted it into a win. Simple errors are what I made. At the highest level, 2-3 points really matter a lot,” she told BWF. The Indian shuttler felt she had opportunities to close out the second game and seize momentum earlier in the match. “I was leading in the second game, and maybe I should have converted it into a win. I should have been on the upper hand, but I made those errors which I shouldn’t have made.” Despite the loss, Sindhu took positives from the week, especially from pushing some of the world’s …

Why PV Sindhu tends to lose to Akane Yamaguchi

Why PV Sindhu tends to lose to Akane Yamaguchi

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 15, 2026 02:57 PM IST PV Sindhu has cost Akane Yamaguchi an Olympic medal in 2021. The Japanese on her part, has stopped Sindhu from winning two coveted titles – the Badminton Asia Championships twice, including a semis – her best showing – in 2022, and prequarters in 2025. Sindhu’s best chance at winning the All England in 2018 too, was snuffed out by the now World No 3, who might be badminton’s biggest WS name to not medal at Olympics. In sheer World Championships counts, Yamaguchi has 3 titles, Sindhu has 1. It’s a long, storied rivalry which includes a cat that bizarrely sauntered into a Philippines arena court that had Yamaguchi hypnotically following its stroll and oblivious to Sindhu arguing a line call with the chair umpire. The brilliance is of course in how, Sindhu’s fighting abilities get accentuated when she plays Yamaguchi. There’s no needle in the 13-15 rivalry because Yamaguchi is incapable of tiffing with opponents, and lives in her own world. But what’s not changed through the …

Why Turkey are turning heads in badminton’s Uber Cup; wins over Miyazaki, Wong

Why Turkey are turning heads in badminton’s Uber Cup; wins over Miyazaki, Wong

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Apr 26, 2026 09:29 PM IST It was bound to have been a miscalculation or underestimating at any rate, by Japan. But resting Akane Yamaguchi, Japan fielded their teen prodigy and Top 10 Tomoka Miyazaki as first singles in the Uber Cup against Turkey. Miyazaki was humbled 21-16, 18-21, 19-21 by Neslihan Arin in 82 long minutes. The dangerous Arin had broken away at 9-9 in the second set to claim the second. But it was from 16-18 down in the third that the Turkish shuttler went on to pound with power and snatch the opening rubber from Japan. Though Japan are far too strong albeit young in doubles, and should seal the tie, this Uber Cup has thrown up Turkey as a surprise. Arin is 32 years old, and ranked 30 in the world as against Miyazaki, ranked 9. Arin has once won badminton gold at Islamic Solidarity Games, and thrice at Mediterranean Games. She also has bronze at European Games, often facing Carolina Marin at the medal stage. On Saturday, …

Badminton Asia Championship: Frustrating losses for Sindhu, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat | Badminton News

Badminton Asia Championship: Frustrating losses for Sindhu, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Of India’s singles lot at the Badminton Asia Championship, Kiran George probably raised the most hopes. Though PV Sindhu dragged Akane Yamaguchi to three sets at Ningbo, China, and announced her intent to stay on the hamster wheel, till she could sneak out a Top 10 scalp or two and hit the next gear. But frustration was the theme of India’s remaining singles in the Round of 16 as none managed to make the quarterfinals. Indian singles hasn’t really had anything to celebrate since HS Prannoy’s World Championship bronze in 2023 and Lakshya Sen’s Olympic semifinals. But Thursday was particularly aggravating for Indian reactions to routine swatting aside by Top 10 opponents. Prannoy and Lakshya Sen had lost on Day 1. The fight has gone out of Indian singles, and neither Sindhu’s flickering aggression as she struck the shuttle high to push the pace, nor Kiran’s persistent and consistency undone at the finish almost casually by Kunlavut Vitidsarn, offered any hope of things improving for India. The Sudirman Cup incoming storm looks ominous, with the …

Badminton Asia C’ships: PV Sindhu to renew rivalry against Akane Yamaguchi; Lakshya, Prannoy bow out | Badminton News

Badminton Asia C’ships: PV Sindhu to renew rivalry against Akane Yamaguchi; Lakshya, Prannoy bow out | Badminton News

Published by Webster

For the first time since July 2023, PV Sindhu and Akane Yamaguchi – two familiar foes who are part of the golden generation of women’s singles that is trying to keep the fight going – will face off each other on Thursday at the Badminton Asia Championships. It will be the 26th meeting of their decorated careers, but one that comes at a time when Sindhu is still trying to find her rhythm back on the tour. Even world No 4 Yamaguchi, once one of the ever-present players on the tour, hasn’t been too active this year, beginning her season only at the All England last month. This is a match-up that Sindhu has enjoyed in the past, winning 14 of their 25 matches, and in the second round in Ningbo, the Indian will look to make a statement that she is still capable of pushing the top 5 on her day. In the first-round on Wednesday, Sindhu ensured she didn’t get stretched too much by Indonesia’s Ester Wardoyo as she won 21-15, 21-19. One …

Lakshya Sen stuns Jonatan Christie to enter Quarterfinals; Satwik-Chirag retire

Lakshya Sen stuns Jonatan Christie to enter Quarterfinals; Satwik-Chirag retire

Published by Webster

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen delivered a commanding performance at the All England Championships, defeating world No. 2 Jonatan Christie in straight games to advance to the quarterfinals. This victory was particularly sweet for Lakshya, as defending champion Christie had eliminated him in the semifinals of the same tournament last year. The Indian shuttler also narrowed his head-to-head record against Christie to 3-4, proving his progress against one of the world’s top-ranked players. Lakshya’s statement win Lakshya dominated the match from the start, using his aggressive gameplay and sharp net control to put Christie under pressure. The third-seeded Indonesian managed to level the first game at 12-12, but Lakshya shifted gears, winning nine of the next ten points to take the opener. In the second game, Lakshya’s relentless attacking approach left Christie struggling to find answers, as the Indian wrapped up the match in just 36 minutes. With this win, Lakshya remains India’s last hope in the tournament, following the exits of PV Sindhu and Malvika Bansod in women’s singles. Satwik-Chirag retire due to injury India’s …

Carolina Marin – He Bingjiao’s friendship and fierce battles – it’s how badminton’s golden generation played | Badminton News

Carolina Marin – He Bingjiao’s friendship and fierce battles – it’s how badminton’s golden generation played | Badminton News

Published by Webster

What will be remembered as the defining memory of the last dance of the golden generation of women’s singles badminton in 2024? Surely not the Paris Olympics podium which no badminton fan would have guessed in their wildest guesses – An Se-young, sure, but flanked by He Bingjiao and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung? Not quite at all. Bingjiao, despite her classical style, was never the glossy, glimmering, gold penned in for the generation. With her reserved, unambitious, occasionally chattery demeanour, she was always an elegant matt gold. Though finishing with a silver, she might well go down in another 20 years as the best memory from Paris Games. It was the absentees on that podium that was the slow, then sudden realisation that the OGGG – the original golden generation – was gone. No Carolina Marin, PV Sindhu, Chen Yufei, Tai Tzu-ying, Akane Yamaguchi, Nozomi Okuhara, or Ratchanok Intanon. Bingjiao and Tunjung would be the two most deserving women to medal at the Olympics and big props to elegant badminton that won in Paris. Just that …

Malvika Bansod’s dream run ends in quarterfinals

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Malvika Bansod, India’s lone representative at the China Open quarterfinals, had an unpleasant end to her great journey at this Super 1000 tournament in Changzhou, China on Friday. She suffered a straight-game (10-21, 16-21) defeat against the two-time world champion and the fourth-seeded, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the quarterfinals. Akane’s attacking and deceptive play proved to be too much for the young Indian as she couldn’t find a way out to defend the smashes from the Japanese. Malvika still tried to fight hard and had a few good retrievals in the rallies but it was too much of a ask for her. Malvika Bansod’s dream run at the #ChinaOpenSuper1000 ends in the quarters! The Indian youngster found it tough to break down the tactics of world no.4 Akane Yamaguchi, ending her journey in the quarterfinals of the China Open. Score: 10-21, 16-21 pic.twitter.com/bqIKn2V9ad — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) September 20, 2024 A dream run for Malvika However, Malvika had an excellent tournament in China beating two higher-ranked opponents in the earlier rounds to become only …

Malvika Bansod is up against Akane Yamaguchi- Blog, Scores, Updates

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China Open 2024 Live: The last Super1000 tournament of the year, the China Open, has reached its quarterfinal stage and is scheduled to take place in Changzhou, China on Friday. Malvika Bansod, who is having a dream run in this tournament, is the lone Indian shuttler in the quarterfinal. She will take on the two-time world champion, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan at 10:00 AM IST. Catch all the Live updates here: Source link