Who is Tomoka Miyazaki? The 17-year-old from Japan who shocked P.V. Sindhu

Born on August 17, 2006, Tomoka Miyazaki rose to prominence at the World Junior Championships in Santander, Spain, in October 2022, where she clinched the girls’ singles title as a first-year high school student. She became the fourth Japanese player to achieve this feat, following in the footsteps of Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, and Riko Gunji.

In October 2023, Miyazaki secured victory at the Indonesia Masters Super 100 II, defeating Thai player Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the finals. The following month, she reached the finals of the Korea Masters, where she finished as a runner-up after losing to Korea’s second-ranked player, Kim Ga-eun. On March 17, 2024, at the age of 17, Miyazaki clinched the BWF World Tour title at the Orléans Masters, defeating Hina Akechi in the finals.

Miyazaki’s astounding performance at the Swiss Open

The following week, Miyazaki made headlines by defeating two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu in the Round of 16 at the Swiss Open. In a thrilling match, Sindhu won the first game 21-16. In the second set, Sindhu was down 11-7 in the interval. She made a comeback making the score 17-17 but Miyazaki took 3 straight points from there making it 20-17. Sindhu lost the second game 21-19. In the third set, the score was 11-10 in favour of Miyazaki at the interval. But from there on, Sindhu started making a lot of errors at the net. Eventually, the score reached 20-14 and Miyazaki had 6 match point opportunities. Sindhu managed to take 2 points but lost the third set 21-16. The final scoreline was 21-16, 19-21, 16-21.

In the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open, Miyazaki faced fellow Japanese player Aya Ohori, emerging victorious after a tough three-set battle with a scoreline of 21-17, 18-21, 21-17.

In the semifinals, Miyazaki encountered Carolina Marin and displayed exceptional badminton skills. Although initially troubled by Miyazaki’s high serve, Marin rallied to win the match with scores of 21-18, 21-12. It was 9-9 in the first set from where Miyazaki took 5 straight points to make it 14-9. But Marin managed to find her flow and made a comeback to win the first set 21-18. In the second set, Miyazaki was yet again in the lead before the interval when the score was 7-4. But from there on, Marin left no stone unturned and was ahead 11-9 at the interval. The latter part of the game was a Marin show as she took 5 consecutive points after 13-11, making the score 18-11 and eventually winning the game 21-12. The final scoreline was 21-18, 21-12.

With her recent victories at the Orléans Masters and impressive performance at the Swiss Open against top players, Tomoka Miyazaki has undoubtedly become a rising star on the world badminton circuit.