An Se-young
Korean superstar An Se-young won her record-tying 11th international title of the year on home soil. Her 48th international career title came at the expense of arch-rival Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
The World No. 1, defeated second-ranked Yamaguchi 21-12, 15-21, 21-16 in the women’s singles final atthe Stadium in Yeosu.
The victory in just over an hour tied the record first set by the men’s singles player Kento Momota of Japan in 2019 and equaled by Se-young herself last year.
This season, Se-young won eight tournaments on the BWF World Tour apart from the gold medals at the Badminton Asia Championships, World Championships and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
She had lost just once in 72 matches all season, the lone defeat coming against Wang Zhiyi of China in the All England Open final in March.
It also extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to 11 matches. Her last defeat to Yamaguchi came at Korean Open last year.
Se-young started off strongly to score three straight points to pull away. But, the tenacious Yamaguchi clawed back to draw level at 9-9 tie before Se-yound produced a string of winners. The Korean reeled off seven points in a row en route to a 21-12 first game win.
Yamaguchi seized early control in the second game by jumping out to a 4-0 lead, with Se-young struggling to get to Yamaguchi’s tricky returns. Yamaguchi won the game 21-15, without once allowing Se-young to pull into a tie.
In the deciding third game, Se-young was dictated the pace and built an early 6-1 lead. She led 11-9 at the changeover and scored five unanswered points. The Japanese player battled back but never got within three points the rest of the way.
At 19-16, An set up the match point with a diagonal winner and then clinched the title on Yamaguchi’s errant return.
It was also Se-young’s third Korean Open crown, having also won the the title in 2022 and 2023.
“I felt so happy knowing there are so many badminton fans here,” said Se-young following her win.
“It is always great to win on home soil. I even got goose bumps hearing their cheers. I would like to thank these fans for their support. Sometimes during a match, I get discouraged when I make mistakes. But these fans helped me play with confidence even after errors.”
On winning 11 titles in back-to-back seasons, she said, “I am proud of myself for this accomplishment.
“I think I have grown up mentally from last year,” she added. “I have also learned how to turn things around when I am running on fumes.”
“I am not thinking all that much about setting the record,” Se-young said of her pursuit of her 12th title. “In my next tournament, I want to play the way I am capable of playing.”
In the men’s singles final, Canadian Victor Lai claimed his second title of the season with a comprehensive 21-11, 21-14 win over Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan. The win also avenged Victor’s only previous loss to Jason at the Hong Kong Open last year.
Victor, the two time world championships semi-finalists, had also won the Indonesian Open earlier this year.
There was also good news for top ranked Koreans Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae in the men’s doubles, After a string of unremarkable results recently, Won-ho-Seung-jae finally got their act together when they defeated Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan 21-12, 20-22, 21-19 for the crown.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Victor Lai (Can) bt Jason Gunawan (Hkg) 21-11, 21-14
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-12, 20-22, 21-19
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-12, 15-21, 21-16
Women’s doubles: Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Kim Yu-jung-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) 21-18, 21-18
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) 21-16, 21-13
