'Perfect Run' An Se-young Aims for China Masters Title... Advances to Semifinals to Face 'Rival' Japan's Yamaguchi Akane

*This content was translated by AI.

This is the dignity of the 'Shuttlecock Empress.' An Se-young (24, Samsung Life), who faced a teammate from her club team, secured a decisive victory and advanced to the semifinals of the China Masters.

World No. 1 An Se-young defeated Kim Ga-eun (No. 12), who shares the same team affiliation as the national squad, in the women's singles quarterfinals of the 2026 BWF World Tour China Masters (Super 750) held at Shenzhen Arena in Shenzhen, China, on the 4th (Korean time). The match ended with a score of 2-0 (21-11, 21-10).

From the start of the match, An Se-young's court dominance was evident. At 6-6 in the first game, she unleashed precise half-smashes and sharp attacks targeting the corners of the court, quickly scoring five consecutive points to pull ahead 11-6. With her signature solid defensive wall added to her arsenal, An widened the gap and easily won the first game 21-11.

The second game was equally one-sided. After a tight 6-5 exchange, An surged to 9-5, seizing control of the match flow and completely shutting down Kim Ga-eun's counterattacks. Adding consecutive points from 13-8, she built a commanding 16-8 lead early on, securing victory well before the end. The match concluded in just 37 minutes, confirming her spot in the semifinals.

Earlier in the round of 32, An Se-young defeated Taiwan's Lin Xiang-ti (No. 17) 2-0 (21-11, 21-3) in 33 minutes. In the round of 16, she also dominated China's Han Chen-shi (No. 33) with a 2-0 victory (21-14, 21-7). Throughout this tournament, An has consistently demonstrated an overwhelming skill gap over her opponents in every round.

With this performance, An Se-young is now targeting a third consecutive title at the China Masters, following her victories in 2024 and 2025. While China's Chen Yufei previously won the title three times (2018, 2019, and 2023), no player has yet achieved three consecutive titles due to cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors.

The opponent awaiting An Se-young on her path to the final is her rival, Yamaguchi Akane (Japan, No. 3). In the quarterfinals, Yamaguchi defeated Thailand's Supanida Katethong (No. 30) with a score of 2-0 (21-18, 21-16).

In their head-to-head record, An Se-young holds an advantage over Yamaguchi with 20 wins and 15 losses. She has maintained strong momentum, including a six-game winning streak that encompasses three finals matchups against Yamaguchi this year at the Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, and World Championships.

This tournament also serves as a precursor to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which open on the 19th. An Se-young swept the early-season tournaments—the Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, India Open, and Singapore Open—and claimed the Asian Championship title, completing her Grand Slam after winning the Hangzhou Asian Games, World Championships, and Paris Olympics. Despite setbacks in July due to a left foot injury that forced her to withdraw from the Japan Open and skip the China Open, she proved her resilience by reclaiming the world title for the first time in three years at last month's World Championships.

Except for a final loss at the All England Open in March this season, An Se-young has recorded only one defeat (46 wins, 1 loss). Riding the momentum of potentially achieving a third consecutive China Masters title, she is determined to pursue back-to-back Asian Games women's singles gold and team event gold medals. On the other side of the bracket, Wang Zhi (China, No. 2) is considered a strong contender to reach the final.

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*This content was translated by AI.