Paris, Oct 25 (IANS) India’s PV Sindhu said she needed to give her best on every point against top players after finishing runner-up at the BWF French Open, where she lost to world No. 1 An Se Young of South Korea in the women’s singles final here on Sunday.
The two-time Olympic medallist suffered a 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 defeat against the top seed at the Arena Grand Paris, missing out on becoming the first Indian woman since Aparna Popat in 1998 to win the French Open title.
Sindhu started strongly and took the opening game 21-16, but An fought back to win the next two games and secure the title in 61 minutes. The victory extended the Korean’s head-to-head record against Sindhu to 11-0.
Reflecting on the final, Sindhu said competing against the world’s best demanded complete concentration and consistency throughout the match.
“When you’re playing with the top athletes, you have to be at 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,” Sindhu said.
The Indian acknowledged the challenge of sustaining her level against a player of An’s quality, adding that the experience would provide valuable lessons as she looks to improve her performances in the coming tournaments.
Despite the defeat, Sindhu remained positive about her recent form and stressed that she wanted to raise her level further.
“I’m absolutely looking forward to much 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 to it,” she said.
The runner-up finish marked Sindhu’s second BWF World Tour Super 750 final of the season. She won the Japan Open in July, defeating Japan’s three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi in the final to claim her first BWF title since December 2024.
World No. 11 Sindhu reached her maiden French Open final after overcoming Japan’s Hina Akechi 21-10, 20-22, 21-16 in the semifinals. Earlier, she survived a tough opening-round contest against Thailand’s Supanida Katethong before beating Japan’s Riko Gunji and Chiu Pin-chian of Chinese Taipei in straight games.
An continued her remarkable season with another title. The reigning Olympic champion entered the final with a 65-1 win-loss record in 2026 and extended her winning streak to 50 matches with Sunday’s victory.
Sindhu’s run also marked the 10th time an Indian entry had reached a BWF World Tour final at a Super 300 or higher-level event outside India this season, surpassing the previous record of nine finals set in 2023.
–IANS
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