'A lot of room still there': PV Sindhu after French Open final defeat

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu believes there is still considerable room for improvement in her game despite producing a spirited performance against world No. 1 An Se Young in the women's singles final of the French Open 2026 badminton tournament on Sunday.

The former world champion finished runner-up after suffering a 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 defeat against the South Korean at the Arena Grand Paris. Although Sindhu made a strong start and claimed the opening game, An recovered to secure the title in a contest lasting 61 minutes.

Reflecting on her performance, Sindhu said she was satisfied with the progress she had made this season but remained determined to improve 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," Sindhu said after the final.

The 31-year-old Indian, who won the Japan Open Super 750 title in July, was appearing in her second final at that level this season.

𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗵𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆

Sindhu began the title clash with confidence, matching the top-seeded Korean in the early exchanges and using her reach and attacking strokes to keep the pressure on her opponent.

The opening game remained closely contested until the scores were level at 11-11. Sindhu then gained the upper hand, capitalising on errors from An and maintaining control during crucial rallies to take the game 21-16.

It was only the second time in their 11 meetings that Sindhu had managed to win a game against the reigning Olympic and world champion.

However, An responded strongly in the second game, improving her defence and court coverage to regain control of the contest.

After an evenly matched opening phase, the South Korean moved ahead and established an 11-7 lead at the interval. She continued to dictate the exchanges and eventually took the game 21-11 to force a decider.

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆

Sindhu made another promising start in the third game and opened up an 8-5 advantage. However, An recovered quickly, winning important points to move ahead 11-9 at the change of ends.

The Indian acknowledged that failing to maintain her lead during this phase proved costly.

"In the third set, I felt that I should have maintained the lead from 8-5. But unfortunately, she converted that into 11-9, and then we changed courts. That's where I felt the difference was," Sindhu said.

An continued to apply pressure after the interval, using her defensive skills and consistency to win six consecutive points and establish a 15-9 lead.

Sindhu attempted to regain momentum, but the South Korean maintained her advantage and closed out the deciding game 21-12.

The victory extended An's winning streak against Sindhu to 11 matches.

𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆

Despite the defeat, Sindhu said the final offered valuable lessons about the level of consistency required to compete against the world's leading players.

"When you're playing with the top athletes, you have to be at your 100 per cent every single point. I know it's not going to be easy and you have to fight for every point," she said.

Sindhu pointed to the long rallies during the match, acknowledging that converting more of those exchanges into points could have influenced the result.

She also noted that the drift on one side of the court had affected her performance and contributed to unforced errors. However, she maintained that adapting to such conditions was part of competing at the highest level.

The Indian said she would focus on improving her consistency and making better decisions during important phases of matches.

𝗔𝗻 𝗦𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝟭𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲

The French Open triumph marked An Se Young's 10th title of the 2026 season and her fourth title at the tournament.

The South Korean extended her winning streak to 50 matches and improved her season's win-loss record to 66-1.

An acknowledged that Sindhu's attacking approach had troubled her during the opening game but said she adjusted her tactics to regain control.

She explained that she concentrated on improving her defence and avoiding rushed shots after struggling with her timing in the early stages.

The changes helped her dominate the second game and maintain the momentum during the closing stages of the decider.

𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻

Sindhu's run to the French Open final represented another significant result for Indian badminton during the 2026 international season.

Her appearance in the championship match marked the 10th occasion this year that an Indian player or pair had reached the final of a BWF World Tour tournament at Super 300 level or above outside India.

The achievement surpassed the previous record of nine such finals, established in 2023.

Sindhu had earlier claimed the Japan Open title in July and continued her strong form in Paris, where she defeated Japan's Hina Akechi 21-10, 20-22, 21-16 in a closely contested semi-final.

Although she fell short of adding another title to her collection, her performance against the world number one offered encouragement ahead of the remaining international competitions.

The result also continued India's wait for a women's singles champion at the French Open since Aparna Popat won the tournament in 1998.

Sindhu, however, remained optimistic about her progress and indicated that she would continue working towards producing stronger performances against the leading players on the international circuit.