Indian badminton star PV Sindhu on Tuesday revealed that team India’s former skipper Virat Kohli’s advice has played an important role in winning historic Japan Open 2026 title. She also revealed that a heartfelt conversation with star player during one of the toughest phases of her career played a pivotal role in her remarkable comeback.
The two-time Olympic medallist said she approached the former India captain when injuries, poor results and self-doubt had pushed her to a breaking point. “Kohli’s advice changed the way she looked at the sport”, she said.
Sharing her journey in a post on X, Sindhu said she reached out to Kohli when she was struggling with recurring injuries and a prolonged title drought. “One thing I’ll always be grateful for is Virat bhai,” she wrote. The badminton star said she was accompanied by her husband, Venkata Datta Sai, and the three spent hours discussing the mental challenges of elite sport. She chose not to reveal the details of the conversation but said its impact was profound.
According to Sindhu, Kohli encouraged her to stop obsessing over trophies and instead rediscover the joy of playing badminton. “The biggest thing I took away was the importance of finding your joy again,” she said.
Sindhu said the comeback was not only mental but also physical. Working with her husband, coach Irwansyah, strength trainer Wayne Lombard and a support team, she focused on rehabilitation, fitness and using performance data to improve her game. She revealed that she lost 3.5 kilograms, developed greater variety in her stroke play and relied on sports science to monitor workload and recovery.
“Data has been one of the most important aspects. Monitoring your strain, understanding why you’re not moving properly on a given day… Instead, data tells you what’s happening and why,” she said.
With the BWF World Championships in New Delhi and the Asian Games approaching, Sindhu said the Japan Open victory has restored her confidence. “More than giving a reply, I just want to say that I’ve always believed in myself,” she said.
However, Sindhu has climbed two places to world No. 8 in the latest BWF women’s singles rankings following her title-winning campaign at the Japan Open 2026. The updated rankings, released on Tuesday, mark Sindhu’s return to the top eight for the first time in more than three years after she captured her maiden BWF Super 750 title on Sunday.
Sindhu, who was ranked world No. 10 last week, earned 11,000 ranking points for winning the Japan Open, taking her total to 67,601 points. The title helped her move ahead of Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong, who has 66,727 points, and Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki, who is on 63,646 points. The ranking rise comes after Sindhu ended a two-year wait for a major title with her historic victory in Tokyo.
The latest rankings mark Sindhu’s highest position since January 25, 2023, when she was last placed at world No. 8 before injuries and inconsistent form caused her ranking to slip.
Her return to the top eight also strengthens her chances of securing a seeded position at the 2026 BWF World Championships, which will be held in Delhi. A top seeding could provide her with a relatively favourable draw at the home tournament.
Sindhu will next compete at the China Open Super 1000, where she faces fellow Indian Unnati Hooda in the opening round. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen retained his world No. 14 ranking to remain India’s highest-ranked men’s singles player. In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty held on to the world No. 4 spot despite withdrawing midway through the Japan Open.