Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu concluded a stellar campaign as the runner-up at the French Open 2026, going down fighting against world number one An Se Young of Korea in the women’s singles final on Sunday. Sindhu produced a courageous performance before settling for a 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 defeat at the Arena Grand Paris, as the top-seeded Korean secured her fourth French Open title.
Sindhu started on the front foot, bringing great intensity and sharp court control right from the opening shuttle. Taking advantage of some early errors from the world champion, the Indian ace drew level at 11-all before pulling clear to take the first game 21-16. It marked only the second time in 11 career meetings that Sindhu managed to take a game off the Korean star.
An bounced back with her trademark consistency in the second game. After a tight opening phase, the top seed took complete control with a long run of points to win 21-11 and force a decider. The momentum stayed with her into the third game where, following a 9-9 deadlock, An used her exceptional court coverage and defense to pull away and wrap up the match in 61 minutes.
Speaking on the closely contested final, Sindhu said, “When you’re playing with the top athletes, you have to be at your 100% every single point. I know it’s not going to be easy and you have to fight for every point. That’s what we were doing.” She added that the long rallies made it challenging to convert opportunities, but remained positive about the lessons from the match.
Reaching the title clash marks Sindhu’s second BWF World Tour Super 750 final of the 2026 season, following her title victory at the Japan Open in July.
Reflecting on her recent form Sindu said, “I’m absolutely looking forward for much more better badminton from me. I’m happy with this, but I think there’s a lot of space, a lot of room still there. So I’m looking forward for it.”
Sindhu’s run to the final marks the 10th time an Indian entry has reached the championship round of a BWF World Tour event (Super 300 and above) outside India this season. This officially surpasses the previous record of nine finals set in 2023, cementing 2026 as the most successful year ever for Indian representation on the international circuit.
With inputs from PR
Picture Credit – BWF/Badminton Photo
