FUJIWARA FAIRYTALE: HOME GOLD CLOSES OUT TOKYO
| July 4, 2026
Rika Fujiwara has taken the gold in front of her own crowd at the Sansan Tokyo Open.
A jam-packed crowd at Tachikawa Tachihi Arena may have been the deciding factor as the local star pulled off the comeback of the year.
After splitting the opening two games 11-7 apiece, it was Pei Chuan Kao who looked to be shining in the pressure moment. A quick lead was built on and soon the match was sitting at 10-5 to close it out. The Women’s Singles final looked like it was slipping away for Japan.
But a side out changed everything.
From 5-10 down, Fujiwara took back the serve and did not drop it again. Seven straight points went up on the board, each one met with cheers as the crowd rode with her. Fujiwara won 7-11, 11-7, 12-10 to seal back-to-back Women’s Singles golds on tour — following her first Asia title at the Macao Open in May — and stretch her singles winning streak to eight.
Meanwhile Yuta Funemizu got his home crowd gold too. Funemizu and Tama Shimabukuro fought back from a first-game deficit to beat Collin Johns and Len Yang 8-11, 11-2, 11-7 in the Men’s Doubles final. It is Funemizu’s first ever PPA Tour Asia medal of any color and it is gold, on home soil. He came into Tokyo chasing a first podium after a quarterfinal best across the season. He leaves with the top step in his home country.
“I knew how much it meant to Yuta to win a medal in Japan and I’m happy I could be part of helping him win the gold.” Tama Shimabukuro
Yuta Funemizu and Tama Shimabukuro celebrate their gold medal with the Tokyo fans.
Back-to-back tour golds were secured for Hong Kit Wong in Men’s Singles. Wong put his light footwork to use, floating around the court and absorbing Mitchell Hargreaves’ heavy hits en route to an 11-4, 11-3 win. Wong now has three golds in his eight-strong singles medal collection — the outright leader on the all-time PPA Tour Asia Men’s Singles gold count.
Gender doubles continued to go the way of the top seeds. Danni-Elle Townsend and Sahra Dennehy sailed to Women’s Doubles gold 11-4, 11-5, taking down surprise finalists and home crowd favorites Fujiwara and Kei Sawaki. The Aussies rode the waves of the Japan fans who tried to power their local pair to a massive upset, safely securing the golden maneki-neko trophies.
Dennehy and Shimabukuro then closed out the night. Fresh off their respective gender doubles titles, the duo doubled down, teaming up to take Mixed Doubles gold in cruise control, getting over the hurdle of Yufei Long and Len Yang 11-2, 12-10.
The next stop for PPA Tour Asia is the Leapmotor Singapore Open, staged from July 23-26.
Check out the complete results from the Sansan Tokyo Open here.
