Why PV Sindhu tends to lose to Akane Yamaguchi

4 min readMay 15, 2026 02:57 PM 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 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 battles dating back to September of 2013, is how the two win against each other: Sindhu with power and steep smashing from her 5’11” vantage, Yamaguchi with the widest variety of strokes to move Sindhu around, and frustrate her picking everything despite her compact 5’1″ frame.
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As India’s second string of Isharani Baruah, Unnati Hooda and Devika Sihag watched the two go toe to toe from the stands at Patumwan in Bangkok, the match was instructive for how height can be leveraged for someone like Sihag, and how height can be humbled for the likes of Hooda, now a Top 20 and Isharani – who has grown up keeping Yamaguchi as the idol.
At Thailand Open Super 500 on Friday, with Sindhu on a roll and moving well on court, the Indian had tweaked the script a tad — she was using the net brilliantly and with aggression, even as her big power game gave her the decisive crunch points in set 1 after the two went 19-19 till the very end. What gave Sindhu the opener was Yamaguchi hashing a smash to an open court, going for the lines, fearing Sindhu’s reach.
The Indian, seeded 6th, would’ve sniffed an upset against the top seed here when she led 11-7 comfortably in second. It’s here that Yamaguchi who had been smothered till then a fleet footed Sindhu’s aggression from front court, changed track. Story continues below this ad
Sindhu could deploy her biggest weapon – the searing, expansive smash only if she got the short length on the shuttle through Yamaguchi lifts. Body attacks were the Indian’s best way to get those evasive floaters and then stub them down. It’s what changed when Yamaguchi went from 7-11 to 14-11 in the second, a rally that effectively led to the 21-19, 18-21, 15-21 loss. The Japanese caught Sindhu on the midcourt, with flat parallels as the shuttle went to the Indian’s shoulder length, making returns awkward.
Sindhu’s defense and court awareness, anticipation have been reasonably sharp on the low dipping shuttles – it’s why Yamaguchi erred going to the backline in the first. But that midcourt flat, fast exchange needs agility — Sindhu could pick three of those 10 shots coming into her body, but the Japanese had neutralized her height and reach advantage with the doubles staple – a hittable push for someone at 153 cms to put a 179 in a mighty bind.
Sindhu wasn’t deterred, she fought on. But for the duration of the next 50 points played, Yamaguchi ran with the lead, not once letting Sindhu get ahead. From 17-13 up, Yamaguchi worked the shuttle around, jammed Sindhu at midcourt, and flicked off a 18-17 challenge with cool conviction in her gameplan.
A 5-0 lead for Yamaguchi wasn’t catastrophic for Sindhu who kept pecking at the score with some impressive net battles. One could say she had the upper hand at the net even around 12-13. But the Japanese calmly took the next 3 points even though the rallies were prolonged. And Sindhu finally flatlined, 15-17 down, as she couldn’t reverse the midcourt momentum.Story continues below this ad
It was a chance to re-enter Top 10, but Sindhu will move to Malaysia Masters and renew her challenge once again.
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Shivani Naik is a senior sports journal and Assant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball.

Professional Profile
Role: Assant Editor and Column at The Indian Express.

Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics.

Writing Style: Her work is characterized “technical storytelling”—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides “long reads” that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium.

Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025)

Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond:

Indian Badminton’s “Hulks”: She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style.

PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her “sparkle” and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps.

The “Group of Death”: In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals.

Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of “backhand deception” in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas.

Legacy and Hory: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing horical context to current Indian successes.

Notable Recent Articles
BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025)

The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025)

Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025)

Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025)

Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025)

Other Sports Interests

Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith’s dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts.

You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. … Read More

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