[Anchor]
World badminton superstar An Se-young has charged into the Asian Games semifinals, leaving her just two wins away from an unprecedented second consecutive title. Yoo Tae-bin has also continued his stunning run to reach the semifinals, securing a medal for a South Korean male player for the first time in 16 years.
Reporter Han Sung-hee has the details.
[Reporter]
Easily brushing off the grueling schedule of playing two matches yesterday (September 26), An completely dominated the court in today's quarterfinals.
She overwhelmed world number five Ratchanok Intanon with deceptive drop shots and her signature impenetrable defense.
[An Se-young, that was truly fantastic. It is like a whirlwind tactic.]
Unleashing powerful smashes as well, she clinched a 2-0 shutout victory in just 33 minutes.
[Lee Yong-dae / Commentator: Wow, to be able to win a quarterfinal match this easily, wow.]
After the match, An drew attention by flashing a bright smile and posing for a commemorative photo with Intanon.
[An Se-young / National Badminton Team Member: (Intanon) has been my role model, and honestly, since she is getting older, you never know when she might retire. Every time we play, I always want to leave a picture behind with the thought that it could be our last...]
With only two matches left until her first-ever consecutive titles, she expressed her determination to leave everything on the court.
[An Se-young / National Badminton Team Member: Physically it feels a bit tough, but I am going to play with the mindset of 'I am already crazy, so I might as well stay crazy all the way.']
Having powered her way into the semifinals, An will face her rival Chen Yufei of China tomorrow for a spot in the final.
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In the men's singles, world number 46 Yoo Tae-bin continued his sensational streak after comprehensively defeating China's world number 6 Shi Yuqi in the Round of 16.
Although he dropped the first game to Japan's ace and world number 7 Kanta Naraoka, Yoo rallied by leveraging his 186 cm height and powerful jumping smashes to take the next two games, securing a medal for South Korean men's singles for the first time in 16 years.
(Video by Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Kim Yoon-sung | Graphics by Lee Jun-ho)
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