French Open Badminton 2026: Draw, Start Times, How to Watch

Sports · By SpikeToday · Oct 15, 2026, 00:46 UTC

The Yonex French Open, a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament, runs from Tuesday, October 20 to Sunday, October 25, 2026, at the new Arena Grand Paris in Tremblay-en-France, north-east of Paris. The first round starts at 10:00 am Paris time on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is 1:30 pm in India, 3:00 pm in Indonesia and 4:00 pm in Malaysia. The official draw, revealed on October 13, has top seed An Se Young playing India’s PV Sindhu in round one, and India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (5) playing the French brothers Christo and Toma Junior Popov, according to the organisers. The finals are on Sunday, October 25, from 11:00 am Paris time, after the clocks go back in Europe.

The draw can still change. The BWF’s prospectus says positions may move when seeded players withdraw, at the Team Managers’ Meeting on Monday, October 19 at 6:00 pm, and that players who reach the finals of the Denmark Open on October 18 play their first-round matches on Wednesday.

At a glance

Schedule by day

Courts, doors and start times follow the BWF prospectus and the organisers’ schedule. All times are Paris time. The organisers say the times may change and the end times are for information only. The BWF prospectus lists 4:00 pm for the doors of Friday’s second session; the organisers’ page says 3:30 pm.

Start times in your city

Paris is on summer time (UTC+2) until the clocks go back in the early hours of Sunday, October 25, so the finals start at 11:00 am in winter time (UTC+1), which is an hour later in India than the same Paris clock time earlier in the week. Match times after the first on each court depend on how long earlier matches last, and the BWF publishes the order of play the day before.

The draw: first-round matches

Numbers in brackets are seeds. The round of 32 is split by halves: the top half of each draw plays on Tuesday and the bottom half on Wednesday (BWF prospectus). The pairings below match the BWF’s own draw pages for the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, which we read on October 15, and the opening matches the organisers describe. Order of play and times are not yet published.

Men’s singles

Tuesday, October 20: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (1) v Toma Junior Popov; Nhat Nguyen v Jason Teh; Alex Lanier (7) v Jason Gunawan; Lee Chia Hao v Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul; Jonatan Christie (4) v Zaki Ubaidillah; Koki Watanabe v Leong Jun Hao; Chou Tien Chen (5) v Yushi Tanaka; Chi Yu Jen v Kenta Nishimoto.

Wednesday, October 21: Srikanth Kidambi v Ayush Shetty; Lakshya Sen v Kodai Naraoka (6); Rasmus Gemke v Yudai Okimoto; Arnaud Merklé v Christo Popov (3); Brian Yang v Lee Cheuk Yiu; Weng Hong Yang v Victor Lai (8); Lin Chun Yi v Alwi Farhan; Ng Ka Long v Anders Antonsen (2).

Women’s singles

Tuesday, October 20: An Se Young (1) v PV Sindhu; Tanvi Sharma v Isharani Baruah; Han Yue (7) v Line Christophersen; Kirsty Gilmour v Mia Blichfeldt; Akane Yamaguchi (3) v Lin Hsiang Ti; Ashmita Chaliha v Han Qian Xi; Pornpawee Chochuwong (8) v Letshanaa Karupathevan; Nozomi Okuhara v Natsuki Nidaira.

Wednesday, October 21: Unnati Hooda v Riko Gunji; Supanida Katethong v Tomoka Miyazaki (6); Chiu Pin Chian v Kaloyana Nalbantova; Sim Yu Jin v Ratchanok Intanon (4); Line Kjærsfeldt v Neslihan Arın; Devika Sihag v Putri Kusuma Wardani (5); Michelle Li v Hina Akechi; Huang Yu Hsun v Wang Zhi Yi (2).

Men’s doubles

Tuesday, October 20: Kim Won Ho/Seo Seung Jae (1) v Hiroki Okamura/Kyohei Yamashita; Chen Zhi Yi/Presley Smith v Aaron Tai/Yap Roy King; Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin (6) v Christian Faust Kjær/Rasmus Kjær; Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard v Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan; Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (3) v Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Wang Chi Lin; Ali Faathir Rayhan/Devin Artha Wahyudi v Kang Min Hyuk/Lee Jong Min; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (5) v Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov; Lee Fang Chih/Lee Fang Jen v Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin.

Wednesday, October 21: Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun v Kakeru Kumagai/Hiroki Nishi; Ben Lane/Sean Vendy v Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi (8); Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub/Tan Wee Kiong v Peeratchai Sukphun/Pakkapon Teeraratsakul; He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu v Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (4); Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen v Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi; Raymond Indra/Nikolaus Joaquin v Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (7); Hu Ke Yuan/Lin Xiang Yi v Chia Wei Jie/Teo Ee Yi; Chen Zhi Ray/Lin Yu Chieh v Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (2).

Women’s doubles

Tuesday, October 20: Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto (1) v Nanako Hara/Riko Kiyose; Hsu Ya Ching/Sung Yu Hsuan v Lauren Lam/Allison Lee; Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari (7) v Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti; Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand v Lin Chih Chun/Yang Chu Yun; Hsu Yin Hui/Lin Jhih Yun (4) v Hinata Suzuki/Nao Yamakita; Luo Yi/Wang Ting Ge v Sumire Nakade/Miyu Takahashi; Rachel Allessya Rose/Febi Setianingrum (5) v Lui Lok Lok/Tsang Hiu Yan; Yeung Nga Ting/Yeung Pui Lam v Julie MacPherson/Ciara Torrance.

Wednesday, October 21: Ririna Hiramoto/Chiharu Shida v Rutaparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda; Sayaka Hirota/Ayako Sakuramoto v Bao Li Jing/Cao Zi Han (6); Chang Ching Hui/Yang Ching Tun v Francesca Corbett/Jennie Gai; Rui Hirokami/Sayaka Hobara v Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi (3); Kim Yu Jung/Lee Yu Lim v Polina Buhrova/Yevheniia Kantemyr; Kathrine Vang/Mette Werge v Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva (8); Margot Lambert/Camille Pognante v Ong Xin Yee/Carmen Ting; Bengisu Erçetin/Nazlıcan İnci v Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (2).

Mixed doubles

Tuesday, October 20: Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping (1) v Kim Jae Hyeon/Jang Ha Jeong; Julien Maio/Léa Palermo v Rubén García/Lucía Rodríguez; Ye Hong Wei/Nicole Gonzales Chan (7) v Presley Smith/Jennie Gai; Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah v Jimmy Wong/Cheng Su Yin; Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue (4) v Callum Hemming/Estelle van Leeuwen; Tanadon Punpanich/Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat v Wu Hsuan Yi/Yang Chu Yun; Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi (8) v Yuta Watanabe/Maya Taguchi; Wu Guan Xun/Lee Chia Hsin v Wong Tien Ci/Lim Chiew Sien.

Wednesday, October 21: Pakkapon Teeraratsakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai v Dejan Ferdinansyah/Felisha Pasaribu; Alexander Dunn/Julie MacPherson v Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui (6); Yang Po Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang v Chan Yin Chak/Ng Tsz Yau; Akira Koga/Natsu Saito v Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Bøje (3); Hoo Pang Ron/Lai Pei Jing v Gao Jia Xuan/Wu Meng Ying; Liu Kuang Heng/Hsu Yin Hui v Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran (5); Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai v Marvin Seidel/Thuc Phuong Nguyen; Zhu Yi Jun/Li Qian v Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (2).

Matches to watch

• Tuesday: An Se Young (1) v PV Sindhu. The organisers call it a major opening match, and An Se Young has won the French Open in 2019, 2024 and 2025.
• Tuesday: Kirsty Gilmour v Mia Blichfeldt. The organisers say Blichfeldt won the Arctic Open recently, and Gilmour is Scottish (ranked 33rd, against Blichfeldt’s 14th).
• Tuesday: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (5) v Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov. Satwik/Chirag won the French Open in 2022 and 2024, the organisers note.
• Tuesday: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (1) v Toma Junior Popov. World number one Vitidsarn plays a Popov brother, and the organisers say a French quarter-final with Alex Lanier is possible if Toma Junior Popov wins.
• Tuesday: Alex Lanier (7) v Jason Gunawan. The organisers call Lanier the most recent world champion and say he has a more favourable draw than his compatriots.
• Tuesday: Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue (4) v Callum Hemming/Estelle van Leeuwen. The organisers call Gicquel and Delrue the world champions, and say they meet the English pair who ended their run at the European Championships.
• Wednesday: Arnaud Merklé v Christo Popov (3): two French players meet in round one.
• Wednesday: Lakshya Sen v Kodai Naraoka (6).

India at the French Open

Ten first-round matches involve Indian players. Two are all-Indian (Kidambi v Shetty and Sharma v Baruah), so an Indian player is certain to reach the round of 16 in each.

• Men’s singles: Srikanth Kidambi v Ayush Shetty (Wednesday); Lakshya Sen v Kodai Naraoka (6) (Wednesday).
• Women’s singles: An Se Young (1) v PV Sindhu (Tuesday); Tanvi Sharma v Isharani Baruah (Tuesday); Ashmita Chaliha v Han Qian Xi (Tuesday); Unnati Hooda v Riko Gunji (Wednesday); Devika Sihag v Putri Kusuma Wardani (5) (Wednesday).
• Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (5) v Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov (Tuesday).
• Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand v Lin Chih Chun/Yang Chu Yun (Tuesday); Ririna Hiramoto/Chiharu Shida v Rutaparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda (Wednesday).

Seeds

Seeds as shown in the BWF’s draws on October 15 and listed on Wikipedia.

Defending champions

The 2025 finals were played at the Glaz Arena in Cesson-Sévigné (Wikipedia).

Where to watch

• In France: L’Équipe is the official and exclusive broadcaster, on its TV channel and on L’Équipe live, the video section of its site and app (organisers).
• Everywhere else: the organisers do not list broadcasters for other countries. Check your local sports channel’s listings and the BWF’s website in the week of the tournament. We will add confirmed channels and streams to this page.

Tickets and getting there

• Tickets: single-day tickets have been on sale since May 26 (organisers) through the organisers’ ticket shop. Check the shop for what is left.
• By train: take RER line B to Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, then walk about 20 minutes. Buses 39 and 350 run from the RER station and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport (organisers).
• By car: the arena is close to the A1, A3 and A104 motorways.

Prize money

The total is US$950,000, paid out as in the table below, with 15% French tax applied (BWF prospectus).

A time clock will be tested

The BWF is testing its time clock at the French Open as well as the Denmark Open. Under the rules for the test, the clock starts when the umpire updates the score and players have 25 seconds to be ready to serve or receive (BWF, October 9, as cited on Wikipedia).

What comes next

The Hylo Open, a Super 500 event in Saarbrücken, Germany, runs from October 27 to November 1 (Wikipedia). For the tournament before this one, see our page on the Denmark Open results and second round.

Sources

• Yonex French Open organisers: official draw and opening matchups (October 13), schedule, L’Équipe as broadcaster (October 12), the venue, single tickets
• BWF: Yonex French Open 2026 prospectus (updated September 11) and the draw pages for the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles
• Wikipedia: 2026 French Open and 2025 French Open