Wang Zhiyi of China suffered a straight-game defeat to Japan’s Hina Akechi at the 2026 BWF World Tour French Open in Paris, joining second-ranked Akane Yamaguchi in a sudden 16th-round exit from the Super 750 tournament.
Wang Zhiyi Falls to Hina Akechi in Paris
Wang Zhiyi exited the French Open at Arena Grand Paris following a 0-2 loss to world No. 22 Hina Akechi of Japan. The match lasted 50 minutes, ending with set scores of 19-21 and 20-22. Wang entered the tournament as the world No. 3 and a primary challenger to South Korea’s An Se-young, having reached the final of the previous year’s French Open before losing in straight sets to An.
Seeding arrangements in Paris kept Wang separated from An until a potential final, as the draw was finalized before recent ranking adjustments. Wang had recently surrendered the world No. 2 ranking to Yamaguchi following the Denmark Open. Despite the favorable seeding, Wang failed to reach the quarterfinals.
In the opening game, Wang built a 9-1 lead before Akechi erased the deficit to level the score at 13-13. Akechi capitalized on late points from a 19-19 tie to secure the first game. The second game followed a similar pattern, with Wang trailing 9-11 at the interval and facing a 10-15 deficit. Although Wang forced an 18-18 tie and earned a game point at 20-19, Akechi claimed three consecutive points to close out the match.
Akane Yamaguchi Exited by Asmita Charlha
Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi also exited the tournament in the round of 16, losing 0-2 (19-21, 18-21) to India’s Asmita Charlha, ranked 36th in the world. The match lasted 37 minutes at Arena Grand Paris. Yamaguchi held an 18-14 lead in the opening game before surrendering the advantage. In the second game, she lost six consecutive points from a 7-7 deadlock.
Yamaguchi had previously contested recent finals against An Se-young, including the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the Denmark Open. Her defeat to Charlha eliminated the possibility of a semifinal rematch against An.
An Se-young Advances Toward Tenth Title
An Se-young advanced to the quarterfinals with a 21-11, 21-14 victory over India’s Tanvi Sharma, ranked 21st in the world. An advanced to face China’s Han Yue, ranked 10th in the world, on Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m. local venue time.
A victory against Han would place An into the semifinals against the winner of the match between Charlha and Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, ranked 9th. A run to the final could pit An against Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani, ranked 6th, or India’s Pusarla Sindhu, ranked 11th.
A French Open title would mark An’s tenth tournament victory of the season. It would move her closer to her own singles record of 11 titles set last year, which matched the single-season singles record established by Japanese men’s singles player Kento Momota in 2019.
Chasing Form After Early-Round Exits
Wang Zhiyi’s defeat leaves her without a tournament title for seven months. Her last victory came in March at the All England Open, where she defeated An Se-young. Since finishing as runner-up at the Asian Championships in April, Wang has not reached a tournament final.
Yamaguchi captured a title at the China Open in July but has remained winless against An Se-young across ten consecutive meetings. An holds a 63-1 record for the season, with her sole defeat handed to her by Wang.
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