World No. 10 PV Sindhu booked her place in the semifinals of the Australian Open 2026 with a dominant victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Su Yu in the quarter-finals at the Quaycentre in Sydney on Friday, May 12.
In a match lasting just 27 minutes, the third-seeded Indian controlled both games from the beginning to seal a 21-6, 21-9 victory. The result marks Sindhu’s second semifinal appearance of the season, having previously reached the last four at the Malaysia Open 2026, the BWF Super 500 tournament.
Stage Set For Another PV Sindhu vs Akane Yamaguchi Battle
An interesting semifinal awaits Sindhu as the two-time Olympic medallist takes on top seed and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi, who advanced to the last four with a 21-14, 21-14 victory over India’s Tanvi Sharma in 32 minutes.
The upcoming clash will be the 29th meeting between the two, with Sindhu holding a 15-13 advantage over Yamaguchi in their head-to-head record. However, the Japanese has won four of their last five encounters.
Their most recent meeting came at the Thailand Open last month, where Sindhu came agonisingly close to victory. The Indian shuttler took the opening game and led by four points at the second mid-game interval in the second game, but Yamaguchi staged a strong comeback to prevail 19-21, 21-18, 21-15.
Notably, one of Sindhu’s most iconic wins against Yamaguchi came in the Tokyo 2020 quarter-finals, paving the way for her to clinch a second consecutive Olympic medal.
Sindhu is chasing her first BWF World Tour title since lifting the Syed Modi International crown in Lucknow in 2024.
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India’s Challenge Ends In Men’s Doubles
Meanwhile, India’s challenge in the men’s doubles events came to an end on Friday after MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan retired from their quarter-final against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Liu Kuang-Heng.
The Indians had narrowly lost the opening game 21-19 and were trailing 16-9 in the second when they withdrew.
