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

Speaking after the match, Sindhu said competing against top players requires giving 100% on every point and fighting hard throughout the match.

When you're playing with the top athletes, you have to be at your 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 as per BAI.

Sindhu settled for a 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 defeat at the Arena Grand Paris, as the top-seeded Korean secured her fourth French Open title.

Sindhu started on the front foot, bringing great intensity and sharp court control right from the opening shuttle. Taking advantage of some early errors from the world champion, the Indian ace drew level at 11-all before pulling clear to take the first game 21-16. It marked only the second time in 11 career meetings that Sindhu managed to take a game off the Korean star.

An bounced back with her trademark consistency in the second game. After a tight opening phase, the top seed took complete control with a long run of points to win 21-11 and force a decider. The momentum stayed with her into the third game where, following a 9-9 deadlock, An used her exceptional court coverage and defence to pull away and wrap up the match in 61 minutes.

Reaching the title clash marked Sindhu's second BWF World Tour Super 750 final of the 2026 season, following her title victory at the Japan Open in July.

Sindhu's run to the final marked the 10th time an Indian entry has reached the championship round of a BWF World Tour event (Super 300 and above) outside India this season.

Reflecting on her recent form, Sindhu expressed satisfaction with her performance but stressed that there was still room for improvement, adding that she aims to deliver better badminton in the upcoming tournaments.

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 added.

This also officially surpassed the previous record of nine finals set in 2023, cementing 2026 as the most successful year ever for Indian representation on the international circuit. (ANI)