Sindhu loses French Open final to An Se-young, who wins title for third straight year

India's star badminton player PV Sindhu lost the final of the French Open 2026. In the title match played on Sunday, October 25, South Korea's An Se-young beat Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 to lift the trophy.

Sindhu made a brilliant start and won the first game 21-16. An Se-young then made a strong comeback, winning the next two games to take the match. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, was playing in the French Open final for the first time, but her dream of winning the title remained unfulfilled.

In the final, Sindhu gave the world number one a tough fight. She played aggressively in the first game. It was the first time since the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships that Sindhu had won a game against An. In the second game, An won 21-11 to level the match.

Sindhu started quickly in the third and deciding game too and built an 8-5 lead. But An came back and put the Indian under pressure, winning the third game 21-12 and the match. With this win, the South Korean recorded her 11th straight victory over Sindhu.

An Se-young also made history by becoming champion for the third time in a row. She is the first player in the world to win this title three times in a row.

Sindhu, 31, had reached the final by beating Japan's Hina Akechi 21-10, 20-22, 21-16 in the semi-final. That thrilling contest lasted one hour and 13 minutes. Earlier this year, in July, Sindhu won the Japan Open Super 750 title.

That gave her the chance to win a second Super 750 title this year in the French Open final, but she could not succeed.