Lakshya Sen defeats Toma Junior Popov
Resurgent India’s P.V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen stormed into the women’s and men’s singles finals, respectively, at the Hylo Open 2026 badminton tournament in Germany.
This marks the first time that India will have finalists in both the men’s and women’s singles finals at the same BWF World Tour event this season. The last time both Sindhu and Lakshya reached the finals of the same tournament was at the Syed Modi India International in 2024.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, the second seed and eighth in the women’s rankings, defeated world No. 53 and compatriot Anmol Kharb 21-13, 21-16 in an all-Indian semi-final.
After a fairly even start with both players tied at 6-all, Sindhu seized control of the contest by opening up a 11-9 lead at the interval. She then conceded just four more points to seal the first game.
Anmol Kharb tried to fight back and even led 15-13 at one stage before Sindhu produced a five-point burst, which gave her the lead en route to closing out the game and securing the win.
This was Sindhu’s second win in as many matches against Anmol Kharb.
The in-from Sindhu is yet to drop a game at the Hylo Open and will be competing in her second final in two weeks after finishing runners-up to Korean ace An Se-young at the French Open last week.
It will be her third final on the BWF World Tour this year. She won the Japan Open title earlier this year. She will face Denmark’s Line Kjærsfeldt in the final of the BWF Super 500 tournament.
Later in the day, seventh seed Lakshya Sen entered the men’s singles final after registering a comfortable 21-17, 21-13 win against sixth-seeded Toma Junior Popov of France.
He controlled both games from the outset to pick up his third win in five matches against the Frenchman.This will be Lakshya Sen’s second final of the year after finishing runners-up at the All England Open.
He will face the winner of the match between Denmark’s Anders Antonsen and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the final.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-18, 16-13; Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-17, 21-13
Men’s doubles: Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) bt Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King (Mas) 18-21, 21-15, 21-18;Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Julien Mao-William Villeger (Fra) 21-13, 18-21, 21-16
Women’s singles: Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) 8-21, 21-19, 28-26; P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Anmol Kharb (Ind) 21-13, 21-16
Women’s doubles: Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-16, 24-22; Hsu Yin-Hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Hsua Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) bt Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) 21-16, 21-15
Mixed doubles: Jesper Toft-Amalie Cecille Kudsk (Den) bt Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina Marwah (Ina) 21-23, 21-12, 22-20 bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 22-20, 16-21, 21-17
