'First in history' on the verge of back-to-back titles, An Se-young's semifinal victory in just 38 minutes... 'World No. 4' China's Chen Yufei defeated [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

Truly an overwhelming world No. 1. 'Empress of the shuttlecock' An Se-young (24, Samsung Life), in a dominant performance, completely overpowered her rival Chen Yufei (China, No. 4) and needs just one more victory to achieve back-to-back Asian Games women's singles titles for the first time in history.

On the 28th, An Se-young defeated Chen Yufei 2-0 (21-5, 21-12) in just 38 minutes during the women's singles semifinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Ichinomiya General Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, securing her spot in the final.

Having defeated Chen Yufei in the 2022 Hangzhou finals three years ago to claim the title, An Se-young now aims for a historic achievement: back-to-back Asian Games singles titles, the first in tournament history and the first ever for Korean badminton.

This is unprecedented world-class performance. At just 24 years old, An Se-young has already conquered the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships, All England Open, and BWF World Tour Finals to achieve a 'Career Golden Super Grand Slam.' She now aims for back-to-back double crown titles at this tournament.

With today's victory, An Se-young extended her all-time head-to-head record against Chen Yufei to 18 wins and 14 losses. Since her loss in the World Championships semifinals last August, she has won five consecutive matches against Chen, maintaining an astonishing official season record of 55 wins and 1 loss (win rate 98.2%).

Although it was a semifinal match, the outcome was one-sided. Immediately after the first game began, An Se-young seized control by scoring nine consecutive points, then dominated the court with her ironclad defense and sharp attacks to win the first set easily 21-5. In the second game, she maintained the lead by pulling ahead five straight points from a 6-6 tie, and after reaching 16-12, she closed out the match with another scoring run, finishing in just 38 minutes.

An Se-young will face the winner of the gold medal match between China's Wang Zhiyi (No. 2) and Japan's Akane Yamaguchi (No. 3) in the final on the 29th.

Good news also came from the doubles events. In the women's doubles semifinals, Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee defeated Japan's Kie Nakanishi and Risa Uesaka 2-0 (21-13, 21-12), securing at least a silver medal for the second consecutive time. Their final opponent will be China's Tan Ning and Liu Shengshu. If Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee win the title, it will mark Korea's first Asian Games women's doubles gold medal since 2002 in Busan, when Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won claimed victory — a span of 24 years.

In contrast, world No. 1 men's doubles pair Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho were defeated 0-2 (11-21, 14-21) by Indonesia's Daniel Martin and Leo Rolly Carnando in the semifinals, ending their hopes of reaching the final. Under tournament rules that do not hold a bronze medal match, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho will conclude their campaign with bronze medals.

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*This content was translated by AI.