India has its first-ever Japan Open badminton singles champion, and Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has her first major since the 2019 World Championship crown in Basel.

Sindhu’s 21-17, 21-17 triumph in 50 minutes over her diminutive arch-rival and three-time world champion (2021, 2022 and 2025), Akane Yamaguchi of the host nation, came at the end of a stirring campaign in which her satchel of scalps included Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching, China’s Han Yue, Japan’s two-time former world champion Nozomi Okuhara and China’s 2024 Olympic champion, Chen Yu Fei.