PV Sindhu Survives Hina Akechi Fightback to Reach French Open Final Against World No. 1 An Se-young

PV Sindhu is into the final of the French Open, a BWF Super 750 event, after beating Japan's Hina Akechi 21-10, 20-22, 21-16 in a 73-minute semifinal at the Arena Grand Paris on Saturday. She is the only Indian left in the tournament.

On Sunday she meets South Korea's An Se-young, the world No. 1 and reigning world champion, an opponent she has never beaten.

How the semifinal turned

The first game was close only until the interval. The players were level at 4-4 and 8-8 before Sindhu went in 11-9 up. After the break she won 11 of the last 12 points to close it out 21-10 in about 18 minutes.

Akechi, the 21-year-old world No. 22, changed the match in the second game with deceptive strokes at the net and tighter defence. Sindhu came back from behind and saved a game point at 20-20, but Akechi earned another chance and took it when the Indian sent a shot wide, winning 22-20.

The decider was the tightest phase. Sindhu went ahead early, but Akechi pulled level at 15-15. The key moment was a 38-shot rally that ended with an Akechi net error to give Sindhu an 18-16 lead. She then won the next points to reach match point and finished the match with a cross-court smash.

A season of rebuilding

This is Sindhu's second Super 750 final of 2026, after she won the Japan Open in July. That matters for a player who, in her own words, went through a rough run of about a year and a half marked by injuries and patchy results.

She has credited a rebuilt support team, including coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama and sports science specialist Wayne Lombard, and a slower, more measured approach to training that began by assessing where her body was before adding workload. The results suggest it is working: she beat world No. 17 Chiu Pin-chian of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-14 in 39 minutes in Friday's quarterfinal, a player she had also beaten at the Asian Games last month.

The An Se-young problem

The final will be the pair's 11th meeting on the circuit and their third this year. Sindhu has not beaten An in any of the previous 10, according to the Badminton Association of India. An has been the dominant force in women's singles, and her defence and court coverage have given Sindhu's attacking game few openings.

Sindhu sounded realistic but not resigned after the semifinal. She said she was pleased to have reached the final but that the job was not finished. She also said An had been in top form and that she would need to fight for every point, adding that every day is a new one.

What a win would mean

A first win over An would be the biggest result of Sindhu's late-career revival and would give her two Super 750 titles in one season. Even a competitive loss would confirm she is back among the players who regularly reach the last weekend of top-tier events and would add valuable ranking points late in the season.

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