Indian badminton had a Sunday to remember in Germany. Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu both won singles titles at the Hylo Open 2026, a BWF Super 500 event in Saarbrucken, on November 1. Lakshya stunned world No. 6 and defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-17, 21-10, while Sindhu earlier beat Denmark's Line Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 21-14 to complete a rare Indian double.
Lakshya ends a year-long wait
The final took just 39 minutes. Lakshya went into it as the underdog against Christie, but he controlled the rallies from the start, building an 8-4 lead in the first game and later pulling away to 18-12. A service error from Christie handed him game points, and the Indonesian netted a return to give him the opener.
The second game was more one-sided. Lakshya stayed ahead through the interval and kept stretching the gap. Fittingly, it ended on a video review: a line call against Christie was overturned, giving Lakshya a string of championship points, and he needed only one to close it out.
This was Lakshya's first title of the 2026 season and his first since winning the Australian Open in 2025. It was also his second Hylo Open crown.
Lakshya's road to the title
| Round | Opponent and score |
|---|---|
| Round 1 | Joakim Oldorff (Finland): 16-21, 21-9, 21-13 |
| Round of 16 | Kiran George (India): 21-15, 18-21, 21-12 |
| Quarter-final | Kalle Koljonen (Finland): 14-21, 21-17, 21-13 |
| Semi-final | Toma Junior Popov (France): 21-17, 21-13 |
| Final | Jonatan Christie (Indonesia): 21-17, 21-10 |
The route shows how much grit went into this win. Lakshya was pushed to three games in each of his first three matches, twice coming back after losing the opener, then played his cleanest badminton in the last two rounds when it mattered most.
Sindhu's second title of 2026
Sindhu, seeded second, was in total command in the women's final, beating eighth seed Line Kjaersfeldt in straight games in 39 minutes. The win took her head-to-head record against the Dane to 7-1. It was Sindhu's second title of the year after the Japan Open Super 750 in July, and it came a week after she finished runner-up at the French Open, where she lost the final to An Se Young.
The two-time Olympic medallist marked the moment with a cheeky post on X: "They say 31 is the new 21. I'm not going to argue." She also credited her coaching and support team for the turnaround.
| Key fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Tournament | Hylo Open 2026 (BWF Super 500) |
| Venue | Saarbrucken, Germany |
| Finals day | Sunday, November 1, 2026 |
| Men's singles final | Lakshya Sen bt Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 |
| Women's singles final | PV Sindhu bt Line Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 21-14 |
| Sindhu's 2026 titles | Japan Open (July), Hylo Open |
A rivalry with history
Lakshya and Christie have met on big stages before. The Indian beat him at the Paris Olympics, but Christie held the edge in their head-to-head record coming into Saarbrucken, which is why few expected such a lopsided final. The straight-games result showed Lakshya's defence and patience at their best: he kept the shuttle in play, waited for errors and attacked only when the opening was clear.
Why this double matters
Indian singles players topping both podiums at a Super 500 event does not happen often; reports noted it was the first such double since 2022. For Lakshya, beating a top-10 player in straight games restores belief after a season without silverware. For Sindhu, now in her thirties, back-to-back finals and a title show she can still go deep at major events.
It is also a boost for Indian badminton heading into the business end of the season, when ranking points start to matter for the year-end World Tour Finals.
What's next
With the BWF World Tour moving on to its final weeks of the season, the big question is whether Lakshya and Sindhu can carry this form into the next tournaments. Both now head into the closing stretch of 2026 with a title in hand and confidence restored.
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