Sindhu faces Anmol Kharb and Sen meets Toma Junior Popov in Hylo Open 2026 semifinals in Saarbrücken

PV Sindhu will take on Anmol Kharb and Lakshya Sen will face Toma Junior Popov in the semi-finals of the BWF Hylo Open 2026 at Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken on October 31.

In an all-Indian women’s semi-final, World No. 6 PV Sindhu and 19-year-old Anmol Kharb will contest a place in the title match, with the pair set to make their maiden semi-final appearance in a BWF Super 500 event. Sindhu arrives fresh from a runner-up finish at the French Open last week and is a two-time Olympic medallist.

Anmol Kharb reached the last four after an upset win over third seed and World No. 12 Line Christophersen in the round of 16, coming from a game down to prevail 11-21, 21-18, 25-23, and then defeating sixth seed Unnati Hooda in the quarter-finals.

Sindhu’s route to the semi-finals has included a opening victory over UAE’s Prakriti Bharath, a win against Rosy Pancasari of France and a quarter-final success over Amalie Schulz, taking her into the semi-final round in consecutive events on tour.

Seventh-seeded Lakshya Sen, ranked World No. 14, will contest the men’s semi-final against Frenchman Toma Junior Popov as he bids for a first final appearance since March; Sen has dropped a game in each of his last three matches, all against opponents ranked outside the top 50.

Sen’s recent matches saw him recover from a game down to beat Joakim Oldorff 16-21, 21-9, 21-13 in the opener, rally past compatriot Kiran George after losing the second game, and overturn a deficit against Kalle Koljonen in the quarter-finals. Popov, by contrast, has dropped only one game so far and defeated Arnaud Markle 21-14, 21-15 in the previous round, while finishing runner-up at the German Open, Orleans Masters and China Open this season.

Sen and Popov have met four times on the BWF Tour and share a 2-2 head-to-head, with Popov winning their last two encounters. Sindhu and Kharb’s only prior meeting on the Tour came at the 2024 Syed Modi International, which Sindhu won in straight games; Sen is a former Hylo Open champion, having clinched the title in 2019, and Popov reached the venue’s final in 2024 where he was beaten by Christo Popov in straight games.

The semi-final matches begin at 2:00 pm local time (6:30 pm IST) on October 31 at Saarlandhalle, with the winners advancing to the Hylo Open final.