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Anmol Kharb’s inspired run at the Arctic Open 2025 badminton tournament’s women’s singles draw ended following a semi-final loss to Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi in Vantaa, Finland, on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Indian badminton player, who had defeated Denmark’s Amalie Schulz on Friday to reach her first semi-final in a BWF Super 500 tournament, lost the match 21-10, 21-13 in just under half an hour.

Anmol Kharb is currently 62nd in the women’s singles badminton rankings, while Yamaguchi, a three-time and reigning world champion, is the world No. 4.

The Indian youngster started the match at the Vantaan Energia Areena well and trailed the Japanese ace, 10 years her senior, by a couple of points at the break.

However, Yamaguchi came out attacking after the restart and overwhelmed the teenager. The Japanese shuttler won 10 points on the trot to close out the opening game with ease and took the lead.

The second game saw Yamaguchi race to a 7-3 lead before Anmol Kharb showed some resistance by reducing the deficit to just one point at 10-9. Unfortunately, though, the fightback proved short-lived as Yamaguchi wrapped up the affair without much trouble.

This was the first-ever clash between the two players on the BWF stage,

Anmol Kharb’s deepest run in a BWF Tour tournament is a runners-up finish at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 last year.

The semi-final defeat also ended India’s challenge at the BWF Super 500 badminton tournament.

Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto’s exit from the mixed doubles quarter-finals on Friday had ended India’s doubles campaign.

Meanwhile, Tharun Mannepalli was the only Indian men’s singles player to advance to the second round. Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen was ousted in the first round while Kidambi Srikanth handed a walkover to his opponent.

Ayush Shetty, who also lost in the opening round, is the only Indian to win a BWF World Tour title this year, at the US Open.