Lost to An Se-young, yet "a natural outcome" — China's Chen Yufei also acknowledged it... "Lacking in depth of skill compared to my opponent" [Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games]

*This content was translated by AI.

Chen Yufei (China), who suffered another decisive defeat against An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), acknowledged the gap in ability rather than offering excuses.

An Se-young, ranked No. 1 in the world in women's singles badminton, comprehensively defeated No. 4 Chen Yufei 2-0 (21-5, 21-12) in the women's singles semifinal of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held on the 28th at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

The match unfolded far more one-sidedly than expected. The game lasted only 38 minutes.

An Se-young dominated Chen Yufei by scoring a staggering nine consecutive points from the start of the first game. Chen Yufei struggled to find her rhythm, while An Se-young continued to widen the score gap with stable defense and sharp attacks. The first game ultimately ended 21-5.

The flow did not change significantly in the second game either. Although Chen Yufei held on a bit longer in the early stages, An Se-young remained unshaken. After regaining control, she widened the gap and closed out the match 21-12.

With this victory, An Se-young extended her winning streak against Chen Yufei to five consecutive wins.

She inflicted another painful loss on Chen Yufei at the Asian Games as well.

An Se-young had also defeated Chen Yufei in the women's singles final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held three years ago to claim the gold medal. This time, meeting Chen Yufei again in the semifinals, she secured a decisive victory, leaving only one match remaining for title defense.

The defeated Chen Yufei also acknowledged the gap between herself and An Se-young.

After the match, China News Service reported that "Chen Yufei revealed that she failed to find a good rhythm throughout the game and remained on the defensive."

According to the report, Chen Yufei said, "I seem to have been lacking in overall depth of skill compared to my opponent," adding, "When problems arose during the match, I could not find a proper way to resolve them."

She also acknowledged that she had committed many errors. The media outlet stated, "Chen Yufei reflected on her numerous mistakes today," and explained, "I tried to change my game management and increase the threat of my attacks, but instead, my error rate increased."

In particular, Chen Yufei evaluated her decisive defeat to An Se-young as a "relatively normal result."

Although she lost by a large margin to an opponent with whom she had once fiercely competed for the top spot in women's singles, Chen Yufei chose to acknowledge the current skill gap with An Se-young rather than make excuses.

Another Chinese media outlet, Sohu.com, also coldly assessed Chen Yufei's decisive defeat, stating, "The playing levels of the two players were clearly not on the same level."

It further emphasized that "the gap between the two players was widening in various aspects such as momentum and stamina."

On the other hand, An Se-young has only one match left to secure the gold medal. Her opponent in the final is Japan's star player Akane Yamaguchi.

If An Se-young wins her final match, she will achieve a back-to-back title in women's singles at the Asian Games, following her victory at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. This would be a historic first for a Korean badminton singles player.

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*This content was translated by AI.