An Se-young reaches 50-match winning streak with French Open crown

How long can An Se-young keep winning? The No. 1 star in the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) women’s singles global ranking extended her winning streak to 50 matches and claimed her 10th title of the season on Sunday.

She defeated world No. 11 Pusarla Venkata Sindhu of India 2-1 (16-21, 21-11, 21-12) in the women’s singles final of the BWF World Tour Yonex French Open 2026 at the Arena Grand Paris in Paris.

The victory gave An her third consecutive French Open title and fourth overall, following wins in 2019, 2024 and 2025.

She has won 66 of 67 official matches this year — a 98.5 percent winning rate.

Sunday’s victory marked An’s 10th title this season and extended a winning streak that began after a 0-2 loss to world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of China in the All England Open final in March.

With top-ranked rivals such as Wang and world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan already eliminated, An could not be stopped, despite Sindhu taking the opening game.

The Indian star attacked aggressively from the start and used an unpredictable game plan to take the first game 21-16.

But An eventually started reading her opponent’s patterns and quickened the pace; Sindhu could not keep up.

An closed out the next two games comfortably, 21-11 and 21-12. She kept a serious expression throughout most of the match. She only broke into a smile 61 minutes in, when she won, and celebrated.

The title likely carried more meaning than usual, as An had been playing through an injury.

She slipped and twisted her foot, injuring the area around her right Achilles tendon, during the Denmark Open final before arriving in France.

Though medical examinations showed that her injury was not serious, the pain did not disappear quickly.

An continued to compete despite the pain, wrapping thick tape around her knee for each match.

In the semifinal on Saturday, she comfortably took the first game against world No. 9 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-12. She then struggled in the second after Okuhara repeatedly forced her into making longer strides.

An eventually won the second game 21-19, but she admitted that she had been battling more than her opponent on the court.

“I try not to think too much about my physical condition, but things are very difficult [right now],” she said. “But the [pain] is still at a level that I can tolerate, so I’m continuing to play.”

The rest of An’s season now looks like a bonus stage for rewriting the record books.

She is expected to compete in about three more tournaments this year, including the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals.

If she wins two more titles, An would break the record of 11 titles in a single season, set by her last year.

She has also already surpassed former Indonesian great Susi Susanti’s career record of 46 titles, with An holding 48.

That puts her within reach of a 50th career title before the end of the year.

She also looks set to break her own record for the highest winning percentage in a season, which currently stands at 94.8 percent.

BY SONG JI-HOON [[email protected]]