Malaysia Open 2026: PV Sindhu's dream run ends in semis, Wang Zhi advances to final

India’s PV Sindhu saw her dream run at the Malaysia Open come to an end on Saturday (Jan 10) after she lost to China’s Wang Zhi. Playing at the Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil in Malaysia, Sindhu was beaten in straight games, 16-21, 15-21, as she missed out on avenging her loss against Zhi, who had beaten her in the 2024 final. The focus now turns to the India Open 2026 for Sindhi, which is slated to start on Tuesday (Jan 13).

Sindhu bows out

In what was a repeat of the 2024 final, the two-time Olympic medalist was clearly the second favourite, having lost points at regular intervals. Her Chinese counterpart forced Sindhu to make baseline errors while playing an attacking court game. In the end, the contest lasted almost one hour before Zhi booked her place in the final.

Sindhu’s also missed out on reaching the final for the second time, having missed the golden opportunity to win her season’s first title. Her focus now shifts to the India Open 2026, which will be a home tournament for the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist.

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On the other hand, there was more bad news for Indian fans on Friday as the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the quarterfinal. Their journey at the Malaysia Open 2026 was brought to an end by the Indonesian duo of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Fajar Alfian. They got the better of the Indian pair in straight games, winning 21-10, 23-21.

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While the second game was much tighter, the Indian pair could not force their way back into the contest and had to settle for a defeat. Like Sindhu, they will also now shift focus to the upcoming Indian Open, where they finished runners-up in 2024. India will have huge hopes from the duo, who will look to win their first title of the season.