India set itself up for a grand double with PV Sindhu in women’s singles and Lakshya Sen in men’s singles reaching the final of the Hylo Open Super 500 at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany, on Saturday.
Continuing her rich vein of form, two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu stormed into her second consecutive final on the BWF World Tour with a straight-games win in the women’s singles semifinals. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen also advanced to the final after defeating Toma Junior Popov.
Fresh from her runner-up finish at the French Open last week, Sindhu defeated compatriot Anmol Kharb 21-13, 21-16 in the semifinals on Saturday. The 38-minute contest was the first international meeting between the two Indians, with Sindhu maintaining her unbeaten run at the tournament without dropping a game. Sindhu will face Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the final.
In the French Open in Paris, Sindhu produced a courageous performance before settling for a 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 defeat at the Arena Grand Paris, world number one An Se Young of Korea secured her fourth French Open title.
Joining her in the title round, Lakshya Sen booked his place in the men’s singles final with a composed 21-17, 21-13 win over France’s sixth seed Toma Junior Popov in 41 minutes. The victory gave Sen a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head record.
This marks Lakshya’s second final appearance of the season, following his runner-up finish at the All England Open earlier this year. He will now face Denmark’s Mathias Sogaard in the final.
The last time both Sindhu and Lakshya reached the finals of the same tournament was at the Syed Modi India International in 2024.
After her semifinal clash, Sindhu said it was good to play an Indian player in the semifinals after a long time.
“Yeah, I think I’m playing her after a very long time, and I think it’s good to see two Indians in the semifinals. But I think, you know, I was just, you know, playing my game and giving my 100% irrespective of whoever the opponent is or, you know, whatever rank she is. And I’m happy that I’m through to the finals,” Sindhu said.
“I think, I mean, overall, I’m happy that I played well and I hope that I continue the same tempo tomorrow as well. And I think I’m glad that, you know, I was maintaining the lead and I kept the lead going, and I finished it off in two sets. And I’m happy for that,” he said.
