PV Sindhu finishes runner-up at French Open after loss to An Se-young
Sindhu won the opening game but lost the next two to South Korea’s world No. 1 in Paris.
PV Sindhu was runner-up at the 2026 French Open badminton final after losing 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 to An Se-young on Sunday. The defeat extended An’s unbeaten head-to-head record against Sindhu to 11-0.
Key takeaways
- PV Sindhu lost the French Open 2026 women’s singles final to An Se-young.
- The final score was 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 at Arena Grand Paris.
- An Se-young claimed her fourth French Open crown and third consecutive title.
- The head-to-head record between the two players is now 11-0 in An’s favour.
- Sindhu had reached the final after four straight wins, including a semi-final over Hina Akechi.
PV Sindhu finished runner-up at the French Open 2026 after losing the women’s singles final to South Korea’s An Se-young on Sunday, 25 October, at Arena Grand Paris in Paris. Sindhu won the opening game 21-16 but could not maintain her advantage as the world No. 1 won the next two games 21-11 and 21-12 to claim the title. The final score was PV Sindhu 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 An Se-young.
Match details
Sindhu reached her first French Open final after winning four consecutive matches. She began with a three-game victory over Thailand’s Supanida Katethong, winning 21-14, 8-21, 23-21. She then defeated Japan’s Hina Akechi in a tough semi-final.
In the final, Sindhu led 9-11 at the interval in the opening game before An Se-young lost further ground and fell behind 11-15. Sindhu eventually won the first game 21-16, ending An’s streak of not dropping a game at the tournament.
Head-to-head context
The defeat extended An Se-young’s unbeaten head-to-head record against Sindhu to 11-0. It was only the second time Sindhu had taken a game from An in 11 meetings. The previous instance came in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, where Sindhu took the opener before An Se-young recovered to win 18-21, 21-5, 21-9.
Tournament significance
An Se-young secured her third consecutive French Open title and her fourth French Open badminton crown. She entered the final on a 49-match winning streak without dropping a game in the tournament.
In the second game, An led 11-7 at the break before doubling down to restore parity. In the decider, An fell behind 5-8 after conceding consecutive points to Sindhu but regained control to enter the interval leading 11-9.
She then picked up six consecutive points to race to a 15-9 lead and won the third game 21-12 to complete the comeback.
Player backgrounds
PV Sindhu is an Indian badminton player considered one of India’s most successful athletes. She has won medals at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and on the World Tour.
She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in April 2017.
An Se-young is a South Korean badminton player who won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the women’s singles event. She was named 2019’s Most Promising Player of the Year and 2023’s Female Player of the Year by the BWF.
She won the gold medals at the 2023 and 2026 World Championships, making history as the first Korean women’s singles player to win the World Championships title. She then clinched the women’s singles gold medals at the 2022 and 2026 Asian Games.
An was also part of South Korea’s gold medal-winning teams at the 2022 and 2026 Uber Cup as well as at the 2022 Asian Games.
What happens next
The sources do not state her next fixture or decision.
French Open 2026 women’s singles final result
Player | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
PV Sindhu | 21-16 | 11-21 | 12-21 |
An Se-young | 16-21 | 21-11 | 21-12 |
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