Japan Open: Pusarla Back in Title Contention
It has been a while since Pusarla V Sindhu made a major final. Her last World Tour final at a Super 500 tournament was over 25 months ago – the Malaysia Masters in May 2024. For anything above that level, the clock…
· DEV SUKUMAR
It has been a while since Pusarla V Sindhu made a major final. Her last World Tour final at a Super 500 tournament was over 25 months ago – the Malaysia Masters in May 2024. For anything above that level, the clock has to be dialled back 55 months, when she was in the title round of the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.
The return to title contention came with her first victory over Chen Yu Fei in six matches. Chen retired with a pulled muscle in her right thigh, with the Indian leading 21-19 15-10, but the retirement took nothing away from Pusarla, who looked close to her best all match and had Chen fighting a rearguard battle throughout.
“I wanted to play at 100 per cent but she played very well, her attack was explosive and I was always defending,” said Chen.