An Se-young
Korean superstar started her campaign for another record breaking run with a thumping win in the opening round of the Korean Open badminton championships.
The World No. 1 hardly raised a sweat as she disposed of Bulgarian Kaloyana Nalbantova 21-6, 21-8 in the women singles opening round as she chases for a record equaling 11th international title.
A win at her home event would see Se-young equal her 11-title effort from 2025. The reigning Olympic champion won the French Open last week after defeating Indian veteran P.V. Sindhu in the final.
Sindhu is giving the Korean Open as miss, but Se-young will still have second seeded former world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan as a stumbling block to her title aspirations.
Yamaguchi, seeded second, however had a much harder opening encounter against Hong Kong’s Happy Lo Sin Yap. Akane dropped the first game but came back strongly to advance to the second round with a 12-21, 21-13, 21-15.
The Japanese workhorse will face a tricky opponent in the second round in the form of Indian youngster Anmol Kharb.
Se-young will take on Malaysian Letshanee Karupathevan, who beat Thailand’s Tonrug Saeheng 21-17, 21-18, in her second round tie.
Two seeded players bowed out in the opening round with fourth seeded Sim Yu-jin retiring injured while trailing 4-11 to her Korean teammate Kim Min-sin.
Unseeded Indonesian Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi accounted for seventh seeded Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei 17-21, 21-13, 21-16.
The biggest of the day came in the men’s singles with top seeded Chou Tien-Chen of Chinese Taipei being shown the exit by his teammate Wang Yu-Kai 21-18, 16-21, 21-12.
Also crashing out was Japanese third seed Kodai Naraoka. He was beaten 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 by Taiwanese Lee Chia Hao.
Naraoka was joined in the sidelines by another Japanese seed Koki Watanabe. Watanabe, the sixth seed was beaten 21-23, 21-9, 21-10 by Hong Kong veteran Angus Ng Ka Long.
Second seeded Victor Lai of Canada moved into the next round after overcoming Brian Yang 21-16, 22-20 in a tense all-Canadian opening round clash.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-11; Yoo Tae-bin (Kor) bt H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 23-21, 21-15; Yushi Tanaka (jpn) bt Moh Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) 21-13, 21-17; Zhu Xuanchen (Chn) bt Riki Takei (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16; Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) bt Julien Carragi (Bel) 21-15, 21-19; Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) bt Jeon Hyeok-jin (Kor) 21-13, 21-15; Jason Gunawan (Hkg) bt Kim Byung-jae (Kor) 21-13, 15-21, 21-16; Wang Po-wei (Tpe) bt Richie Duta Richardo (Ina) 21-10, 15-21, 21-12; Angus Ang Ka Long (Hkg) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-23, 21-9, 22-20; He Zhean (Chn) bt Minoru Koga (Jpn) 21-15, 21-17; Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) bt Prahdiska Bagas Shujiwo (Ina) 21-8, 21-16; Kim Hae-deun (Kor) bt Muhamad Yusuf (Ina) 17-21, 21-12, 21-14; Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) bt Dong Tuan Yao (Chn) 21-10, 20-22, 21-16; Victor Lai (Can) bt Brian Yang (Can) 21-16, 22-20; Lee Chai Hao (Tpe) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 15-21, 21-17, 21-15; Wang Yu-Kai (Tpe) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-18, 16-21, 21-12
Men’s doubles: Kang Min-hyuk-Lee Jongmon (Kor) bt Wang Yue Hang-Xie Zewei (Eng-Aus) 21-5, 21-10; Choi Sol Gyu-Goh V Shem (Kor-Mas) bt Hyun Su-min-Lee Sang-min (Kor) 21-17, 21-23, 21-16; Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) bt Chen Bo-yuan-Lu Ming Che (Tpe) 21-9, 21-12
Women’s singles: Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) bt Kim Min-ji (Kor) 21-13, 21-18; Park Ga-eun (Kor) bt Polina Buhrova (Ukr) 21-17,21-14; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Happy Lo Sin Yan (Hkg) 12-21, 21-13, 21-15; An Se-young (Kor) bt Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) 21-6, 21-8; Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari (Ina) bt Kim Joo-eun (Kor) 21-16, 21-19; Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi (Ina) bt Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe) 17-21, 21-13, 21-16; Zhu Xuanchen (Chn) bt Riki Takei (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16; Riko Gunji (Jpn) bt Chen Su Yu (Tpe) 21-13, 21-8; Han Qianxi (Chn) bt Ishika Jaiswal (USA) 21-14, 21-7; Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Huang Ching Ping (Tpe) 21-11, 21-16; Anmol Kharb (Ind) bt Rachel Chan (Can) 21-9, 21-18; Kim Minsun (Kor) bt Sum Yu-jin (Kor) 11-4 rtd; Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan (Ina) bt Wong Ling Ching (Mas) 21-17, 21-23, 22-20; Letshanaa Karupathevan (Mas) bt Tunrug Saeheng (Tha) 21-17, 21-18; Hina Akechi (Jpn) bt Xu Wenjing (Chn) 23-21, 21-11; Tung Ciou-Tong (Tpe) bt Pai Yu Po (Tpe) 21-11, 21-12; Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Manami Suizu (Jpn) 21-16, 12-21, 21-17
Mixed doubles: Lee Sang-min-Park Min-ji (Kor) bt Timothy Lock-Chloe Hoang (Can) 21-16, 21-12; Calvin Devereux-Desiree Toepffer (Ger) Kim Jael-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) 21-2, 21-5; Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Lee Hyeong-woo-Park Seul (Kor) 21-15, 24-22; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Jafar Hidayatullah-Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine (Ina) 21-17, 21-12; Hyun Su-min-Moon In-seo (Kor) bt Lu Ming Che-Chou Yun An (Tpe) 14-21, 21-17, 21-14; Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Tonkid Saeheng-Tonrug Saeheng (Tha) 21-10, 21-14; Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) bt Dhruv Rawat-K. Maneesha (Ind) 20-22, 21-12, 24-22; Jin Sung-ik-Lee Seung-hee (Kor) bt Xie Zewei-Zhang Yuran (Aus) 21-9, 21-9; He Zhi-Wei-Sun Liang Ching (Tpe) Wang Yue Heng-Lam Cho Wai (Eng) 21-10, 21-12; Chen Tang Jie-Chan Wen Tse (Mas) bt Andika Ramandiansyah-Nozomi Shimizu (Aus) 21-9, 21-14; Akira Koga-Natsi Saito (Jpn) bt M Nawaf Khoiriyanshah-Indah Cahya Sari Jamil (Ina) 21-13, 21-18; Haruki Kawabe-Kokona Ishikawa (Jpn) bt Chen Bo-yuan-Chen Yan Fei (Tpe) 21-14, 12-21, 21-13
