BWF French Open 2026: PV Sindhu storms into semifinals after straight-game win over Chiu Pin-Chian

Indian badminton star PV Sindhu continued her impressive run at the BWF French Open 2026, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian in straight games to book her place in the women’s singles semifinals in Paris on Friday.

The two-time Olympic medallist secured a comfortable 21-13, 21-14 victory, maintaining control for most of the contest. Sindhu started strongly in the opening game and carried that momentum into the second, where she established an 11-2 lead at the interval. Although Chiu attempted to fight back, the Indian shuttler held her nerve to seal the match.

Sindhu will next face either Indonesia's fifth seed Putri Wardani or Japan's Hina Akechi for a place in the final.

PV Sindhu continues strong run in Paris

Before her quarterfinal victory, Sindhu had defeated Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-12, 21-16 in 44 minutes to progress to the last eight. Gunji had earlier knocked out fellow Indian Unnati Hooda in the opening round.

Sindhu, who won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will now look to take another step towards the French Open title.

Ashmita Chaliha exits after memorable run

Meanwhile, Ashmita Chaliha’s impressive campaign ended in the quarterfinals after she lost 10-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.

Chaliha had enjoyed a memorable tournament, registering the biggest win of her career by defeating world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi 21-19, 21-18 on Thursday. The victory took her into her maiden Super 750 quarterfinal.

The Indian had also won her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Korea Masters Super 300 earlier in the year.

Ayush Shetty retires hurt

India’s Ayush Shetty also bowed out of the men’s singles competition after retiring hurt against Japan’s sixth seed Kodai Naraoka. Shetty lost the opening game 17-21 and was trailing 6-11 in the second when he retired.

Shetty had earlier defeated Kidambi Srikanth in the opening round of the tournament. Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, had withdrawn before his opening-round match.

India’s men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with the women’s doubles combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, had also suffered opening-round exits in Paris.