China Masters: Hirota/Sakuramoto Finding Their Stride

For Sayaka Hirota and Ayako Sakuramoto, progress has come one tournament at a time.

On Friday at LI-NING China Masters 2026, the Japanese took another significant step, overcoming Benyapa Aimsaard/Nuntakarn Aimsaard 19-21 21-13 21-18 to reach their first Super 750 semifinal.

Remarkably, China is only their seventh tournament together. The partnership began at the All England in March, where they reached the quarterfinals, before going one better with a runners-up finish at the Malaysia Masters in May.

Their latest breakthrough, however, required patience and resilience. After dropping a tight opening game, Hirota and Sakuramoto gradually found their rhythm.

“In the first game, our attacking patterns weren’t quite clicking,” Hirota said. “From the second game, we made a slight adjustment, carefully waiting for and targeting the shots our opponents set up.

“There were moments when we struggled against their height but we eventually adjusted.”

For Hirota, a former world No.1 alongside Yuki Fukushima, this feels like a new beginning after she spent nearly two years away from the international circuit due to recurring fitness problems following ACL injuries to both knees.

Sakuramoto, meanwhile, enjoyed successful partnerships with Yukiko Takahata and Rena Miyaura, reaching world No.9 and No.11 respectively. Now, the 31-year-old is building something new with Hirota and believes communication has become their biggest strength.

“The final game was really close and it was unclear who would win until the very end,” Sakuramoto said. “But I believe the reason we were able to win was because we communicated with each other and covered one another.”

For Hirota, every match is another building block.

“With each match we play, our combination and patterns are getting better,” she said. “Unless we play many more matches, we won’t be able to develop that strength.”

Their ambition is clear – not merely to reach the top.

“There are still many areas we need to improve,” Hirota admitted. “We really want to reach a level where we can compete on equal terms with the elite pairs.”

For now though, their journey is nicely gathering momentum in Shenzhen.