World No. 2 and No. 3 Both Eliminated, Only An Se-young Among Top-Ranked Players Reaches Semifinals... Japan and China in Shock: "Yamaguchi's Upset Loss, China Wiped Out"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Both the world No. 2 and No. 3 players have fallen. Even in this "French Open of upsets," where top-tier players have been eliminated one after another, world No. 1 An Se-young (Samsung Life) remained unshaken.

On the 23rd (Korean time), at the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour French Open (Super 750) held in Paris, France, An Se-young defeated Han Yue (China, world No. 10) 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the women's singles quarterfinals.

The match lasted only 36 minutes. An Se-young took complete control from the first game. She never relinquished the lead after the start of the match and comfortably secured the first game by extending her lead to 18-10 in the closing stages.

There was a brief moment of danger in the second game. An Se-young trailed 6-10 but then scored five consecutive points to immediately reverse the score to 11-10. At 15-13, she again took five straight points, crushing Han Yue's pursuit.

With this victory, An Se-young is just two steps away from her 10th individual title of the year.

If she wins this tournament, she will claim a fifth consecutive title, following the World Championships, China Masters, Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, and Denmark Open.

She is also continuing her strong connection with the French Open. An Se-young won this tournament in 2024 and 2025. If she wins again this year, she will achieve a three-peat at the French Open.

Her season record is even more impressive. With today's victory, An Se-young has recorded 64 wins and 1 loss this year. Her winning percentage reaches an astonishing 98.5%.

Even more noteworthy is the fact that other top-tier players are falling one after another at this French Open.

World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) lost to Ashmita Chaliha (India, world No. 36) 0-2 (19-21, 18-21) in the second round and was eliminated early.

Japanese badminton specialist media "Badminton Magazine" also reported Yamaguchi's elimination with significant coverage. The outlet stated, "Yamaguchi, runner-up at the Denmark Open, lost 0-2 to an Indian player and was eliminated in the second round."

World No. 3 Wang Zhiyi (China) also became a victim of the upsets. Wang Zhiyi lost to Japan's Hina Akechi 0-2 (19-21, 20-22) and failed to reach the quarterfinals.

Badminton Magazine evaluated Akechi's victory as a "victory of merit," highly praising it by saying she "caught a big fish."

Ultimately, world Nos. 2 and 3 both collapsed in the round of 16, failing to even reach the quarterfinals.

The upsets did not end there. Akechi also defeated world No. 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani (Indonesia) in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.

World No. 22 Akechi has emerged as the star of the biggest upset at this tournament by consecutively defeating Wang Zhiyi and Wardani.

Currently, in the women's singles semifinals, An Se-young is joined by Akechi, world No. 9 Nozomi Okuhara (Japan), and world No. 11 P.V. Sindhu (India).

Among players ranked within the top 10 in the world, only An Se-young and Okuhara remain. In particular, among the world's top three, An Se-young is the only player to reach the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the situation for Chinese women's singles has become even more bitter. After Wang Zhiyi was eliminated first, Han Yue was the last remaining Chinese player who survived to the quarterfinals. However, Han Yue also failed to overcome the wall of An Se-young.

China's Sina.com reported that "Chinese women's singles have been wiped out at the French Open," adding, "With Han Yue's elimination, no Chinese women's singles player has advanced to the semifinals in this tournament."

It further evaluated, "Han Yue could not overcome the wall of An Se-young," noting that "the gap between the two players was not narrowed in this match either."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original