France’s Christo Popov won the men’s singles title and South Korea’s An Se-young won the women’s singles title at the Yonex French Open 2026 in Paris on 25 October 2026. Popov beat Indonesia’s Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah in three games, while An Se-young came back from a game down to beat India’s PV Sindhu. The results ended an 80-year wait for a French men’s champion at home and stretched An’s run as world No.1.
What Is the Yonex French Open 2026?
The Yonex French Open 2026 was the 94th edition of France’s annual international badminton tournament. The tournament took place from 20 to 25 October 2026 at the Arena Grand Paris in Tremblay-en-France, near Paris. It was organised by the Federation Francaise de Badminton with sanction from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The French Open is a Super 750 event on the BWF World Tour. The BWF World Tour is the global circuit of top badminton tournaments. It has four regular levels in rising order: Super 300, Super 500, Super 750 and Super 1000, followed by the season ending World Tour Finals. A Super 750 is the second highest regular level. The winner earns 11,000 ranking points and the total prize money in Paris was $950,000.
The main draw had 32 players or pairs in each of the five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Matches follow a knockout format. Each match is the best of three games to 21 points.
Christo Popov Wins Mens Singles Title at Home
Christo Popov defeated Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 in the men’s singles final on 25 October 2026. The match lasted 61 minutes in front of about 5,000 home fans. Popov took the first game easily, lost the second, then built an 11-3 lead in the decider before Ubaidillah closed to 12-10. Popov held firm to close out the third game 21-13.
The win made Popov the first Frenchman to win the French Open men’s singles title since Henri Pellizza in 1946. It ended an 80-year wait for a home champion. Popov had lost the 2025 final, so the 2026 title was his second straight final in Paris and his first win.
The title also took Popov to world No.1. The BWF rankings released on 27 October 2026 placed him at No.1 with 89,932 points, ahead of Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Denmark’s Anders Antonsen. He became the first French player to reach No.1 in any badminton discipline.
Popov was born on 8 March 2002 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up in Fos-sur-Mer in France. Badminton runs in his family. His father Toma Popov is a former Bulgarian player and his coach, his mother was a national referee, and his elder brother Toma Junior Popov is also a top singles and doubles player. Christo Popov is left handed, 1.79 m tall, a former junior world No.1, European men’s doubles champion in 2025 with his brother, European men’s singles champion in 2026, and winner of the BWF World Tour Finals in December 2025.
An Se-young Defeats PV Sindhu in Womens Singles Final
An Se-young defeated PV Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 in the women’s singles final on 25 October 2026. The match lasted 61 minutes. Sindhu won the first game 21-16 and led 8-5 in the third game. An then used tight defence and long rallies to take control and win the last two games 21-11 and 21-12.
The title was An’s fourth French Open crown after wins in 2019, 2024 and 2025. It was her third straight win in Paris. It was also her 10th title of the 2026 season and the 48th title of her career. She stretched her winning streak to 50 matches. In 2026 she won 66 of 67 matches, with her only loss coming in the All England Open final against China’s Wang Zhiyi in March.
An was born on 5 February 2002 in Gwangju in South Korea. She is right handed and 1.70 m tall. She has held the women’s singles world No.1 ranking since August 2023. She is the Olympic champion from Paris 2024, where she beat China’s He Bingjiao in the final for South Korea’s first women’s singles gold since 1996. She is also world champion from 2023 in Copenhagen and 2026 in New Delhi and Asian Games champion from 2022 and 2026.
Sindhu, born on 5 July 1995 in Hyderabad, is India’s most decorated badminton player. She is the world champion from 2019 in Basel, the first Indian to win the badminton world title. She won Olympic silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020, the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She reached a career high ranking of No.2 in April 2017. Her head to head record against An now stands at 11-0 in An’s favour.
Is the Badminton French Open a Grand Slam?
The badminton French Open is not a tennis Grand Slam. It is a BWF World Tour Super 750 badminton event held in Paris, while Roland Garros is the clay court tennis Grand Slam held in Paris. The two share a name and city but are different sports with different organisers.
Tennis has four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. The tennis French Open is played on clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris and is run by the French Tennis Federation. It is named after aviator Roland Garros.
Badminton has no Grand Slam system. Its top events are the Olympic Games, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Tour with its Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500 and Super 300 levels. The badminton French Open, first held in 1908, is one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. It joined the BWF Super Series in 2007 and became a Super 750 event in 2018.
Full List of Yonex French Open 2026 Winners
The 2026 finals were played on 25 October 2026. Four of the five finals went to three games. Only the mixed doubles final ended in straight games.
| Event | Winner | Runner Up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Singles | Christo Popov (France) | Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah (Indonesia) | 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 |
| Women’s Singles | An Se-young (South Korea) | PV Sindhu (India) | 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 |
| Men’s Doubles | Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun (Malaysia) | Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin (Malaysia) | 13-21, 21-15, 21-7 |
| Women’s Doubles | Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) | Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan (Malaysia) | 10-21, 21-17, 21-16 |
| Mixed Doubles | Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping (China) | Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia) | 21-10, 21-13 |
China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping won their third straight French Open mixed doubles title in 37 minutes. Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto defended their women’s doubles title from 2025. Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun won their first Super 750 men’s doubles title.
Key Takeaways
- The Yonex French Open 2026 was held from 20 to 25 October 2026 at the Arena Grand Paris in Tremblay-en-France as a Super 750 event with $950,000 prize money.
- Christo Popov beat Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 to win the men’s singles title.
- Popov became the first French men’s singles winner since Henri Pellizza in 1946 and the first French world No.1 on 27 October 2026.
- An Se-young beat PV Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 to win her fourth French Open women’s singles title and her 10th title of 2026.
- The mixed doubles title went to Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, who beat Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing 21-10, 21-13 for their third straight French Open crown.
