Orleans Masters 2026 badminton: Tanvi Sharma and Isharani Baruah’s semi-final exits end India’s campaign

India’s Orleans Masters 2026 badminton campaign came to an end after both Tanvi Sharma and Isharani Baruah lost their respective women’s singles semi-final matches at the Palais des Sports in France on Saturday.

World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma, 38th in the women’s singles badminton rankings, lost to world No. 20 and Olympic bronze medallist Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-9, 21-16 in 35 minutes.

The 17-year-old Indian badminton player failed to find her rhythm in the opening game, trailing 11-6 at the interval and managed just three more points thereafter, as Nozomi Okuhara comfortably sealed the opener.

The second game began on a far more even footing with Tanvi Sharma matching Nozomi Okuhara point for point to be locked at 12-all. However, Okuhara soon shifted gears, breaking away to seal the game and book her place in the semi-finals.

This was the second time that Tanvi Sharma had qualified for the semi-finals of a BWF Super 300 tournament.

At the 2025 US Open BWF Super 300 meet, she finished as a runner-up, becoming the youngest Indian woman to reach a BWF World Tour final at the age of 16.

India’s Isharani Baruah also exited the Orleans Masters women’s singles after going down 21-12, 23-21 against world No. 27 Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand in the semi-finals.

World No. 52 Isharani Baruah struggled to get a foothold in the first game as Pitchamon Opatniputh dominated from the start to finish to wrap up the opener without much resistance.

The second game saw Isharani Baruah surge to a 10-5 lead before Pitchamon Opatniputh fought back with a string of points to move into a 13-10 lead.

However, Isharani Baruah managed to take the game down to the wire and even saved a match point to push the contest into a tie-breaker before eventually falling short.