PV Sindhu has every major honour of world badminton in her trophy cabinet, but a win against An Se Young remains elusive.
On Saturday, the former world champion, World Tour Finals winner and two-time Olympic medallist overcame a stiff challenge from Japanese shuttler Hina Akechi to storm into her first-ever French Open women’s singles final. She will face her arch-nemesis Young in Sunday’s final, with a chance to finally erase one of the few blemishes on her otherwise illustrious career.
Sindhu defeated World No. 22 Akechi 21-10, 20-22, 21-16 in a gruelling 73-minute clash to book her place in the final.
After comfortably winning the opening game, Sindhu faced a neck-and-neck battle in the second as Akechi made every effort to keep the Indian at bay. Sindhu, however, looked determined to register her third consecutive straight-game win at the tournament.
Akechi, who reached the semifinals after stunning Wang Zhi Yi and Putri Kusuma Wardani in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, put up a valiant display and capitalised on her opportunities to take the second game.
In the decider, Sindhu led 14-9 at one stage and looked poised to cap off a brilliant win. However, Akechi showed her fighting spirit, rallying from behind to level the score at 15-15 after claiming six consecutive points.
Despite Akechi’s fightback, Sindhu, India’s lone hope, remained unrattled. Looking fluent in her movement and willing to stay in the rallies, the Indian held her nerve under pressure and conceded just one point from that stage to close out the game 21-16 and seal her place in the final.
The victory was particularly significant given Sindhu’s recent struggles to close out tight matches. Last week, she lost to unheralded German shuttler Yvonne Li at the Denmark Open after failing to finish the contest in the decider. At the Arctic Open, Ratchanok Intanon punished the Indian in the deciding game, while at the Asian Games, Chen Yufei got the better of her in the quarterfinals after a 75-minute clash.
On Saturday, however, Sindhu’s deft placement, impeccable defence and calm, composed finish against Akechi suggested that she has been working on her ability to close out matches under pressure. This win and her run to the business end of the Super 750 event will see Sindhu return to the world’s top seven – a position she held for a long time – for the first time since March 2023.
The Indian will now face World No. 1 An Se Young in the final. The Korean defeated Nozomi Okuhara 21-12, 21-19 in the other semifinal.
Can Sindhu finally break An Se Young jinx?
This will be the first time since the women’s singles final at the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals that the two stars will face off in a final. Sindhu has an anomaly to correct. In their 10 meetings so far, Sindhu is yet to register a win against Young, the reigning Olympic, Asian Games and World Championships gold medallist, who has been virtually invincible.
This year, Sindhu faced An Se Young twice and lost in straight games on both occasions. On Saturday, the Korean made Okuhara, a former world champion who was a star shuttler in her prime, squat throughout the match, using her brilliant placement to keep the Japanese veteran at bay.
Young is now chasing her fifth consecutive World Tour title of the season and a hat-trick of French Open crowns. Just last week, she created history at the Denmark Open, claiming her 47th senior-level title to become the most decorated woman in the history of badminton.
Saturday’s win and her maiden French Open final appearance will give Sindhu a much-needed boost as she looks to claim her second title of the season. In July, she ended her four-year title drought (above the Super 500 level) by winning the Japan Open with a straight-game victory over the then World No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi.
The face-off against Young seemed inevitable. The two greats were initially drawn to face each other in the Round of 32, but a rejigged draw sent them down separate paths. Yet, destiny had other plans.
With both Sindhu, 31, and Young, 24, in fiery form, the stage is now set for yet another battle of generations.
