PV Sindhu loses French Open final to world number one An Se Young after spirited battle

PV Sindhu came agonizingly close to ending her long wait for a victory over world number one An Se Young but ultimately fell short in the final of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Sunday. The Indian shuttler won the opening match against the Olympic champion but failed to sustain the momentum and went down 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 after a spirited battle in Paris.The defeat extended Sindhu’s winning streak against the South Korean to 11 matches, but the two-time Olympic medalist took plenty of positives from the match. Meanwhile, An secured her fourth French Open title and her 11th title of the season, further underscoring her dominance on the international circuit.“I fought for every point. I could have won the first game and I was happy about it. But in the second it was even till 5-4. After that she took the lead and held it,” Sindhu said after the match.“Even in the third match, I should have kept the lead from 8:5. Unfortunately, I converted it to 11:9. That’s where I felt the difference. But I can take a lot of positives from this match. I have to work on them going forward,” she added.

Sindhu starts the opening game hard

Sindhu used her range and attacking strokes well in the opening game which lasted 20 minutes. It was only the second time in her career that she was able to win a match against An, having failed to beat the Korean in her previous 10 matches.The opening exchanges were very even, with both engaging in lengthy rallies and clean battles to move from 4-4 to 7-7. During one such exchange, An lunged forward to play a shot but ended up hitting Sindhu in the face with a shuttlecock.Sindhu came through on the break with a crisscrossing overhead and soon extended her advantage to 15-11, capitalizing on Ana’s errors of judgment near the backline.The Korean tried to fight back as Sindhu made a few unforced errors but the Indian maintained control. A masked slice helped her win six game points and although An saved two with a deceptive drop and angled return across the court, another shot from the South Korean flew long to hand Sindhu the opening game.

An Se Young answers to tie the game

The world number one came out aggressively after the change of sides and led 3-0. Sindhu tried to close the gap with backhand smashes and body smashes, but An’s fierce net play kept her in front.A superb net drive and 30-shot exchange helped the Korean maintain her lead before two powerful smashes gave her a four-point advantage at the break. An continued to dictate the rally after the break, moving to 13-7 as Sindhu struggled to maintain consistency. The Indian’s errors mounted and allowed the South Korean to score nine of the next 10 points to move to 17-8.An ended up winning 12 game points. Sindhu saved three before the Olympic champion converted a fourth chance to level the match and force a decider.

Sindhu’s early lead slipped in the decider

The deciding game produced another intense match with Sindhu battling both An’s quality and court drift. The 36-run exchange ended with the Indian hitting wide but she responded strongly to build an 8-5 lead.An fought back to tie the score at 8-8 before charging forward after pouncing on a loose shot at the net. A body smash and another attack on Sindhu’s backhand gave the Korean a two-point lead at the break.After winning six of the last seven points in the first half of the decider, An carried that momentum forward to move to 13-9. Her shooting was sharper as she stretched the lead to 18-10, leaving little room for Sindhu to recover.Sindhu’s cruise shot gave An eight match points and the South Korean sealed the title at the first opportunity to complete another victory over the Indian.