Fewest Points Conceded in Rival Match... An Se-young Just One Win Away from Making New History

[Anchor]

World badminton powerhouse An Se-young is now just one win away from achieving the first-ever consecutive gold medals in the women's singles event at the Asian Games. She advanced to the final by securing a commanding victory against her rival, China's Chen Yufei, conceding the fewest points in their head-to-head history, mirroring their epic showdown in the final in Hangzhou three years ago.

Reporter Ha Seong-ryong has the story from the venue.

[Reporter]

An Se-young, who claimed a gritty gold medal by defeating Chen Yufei despite suffering a knee injury in the final of the Hangzhou tournament three years ago, faced Chen again in the semifinals.

Over the span of three years, An has grown into the undisputed world number one, and Chen was simply no match for her.

From the very beginning of the match, An seized the momentum by catching her opponent off guard with exquisite drop shots and wearing her down by forcing her to scramble across the court, rattling off nine consecutive points without conceding a single one.

[Bae Sung-jae / Caster: The expressions on the Chinese bench are grim! An Se-young is impregnable right from the first game!]

After taking the first game while surrendering just 5 points, An unleashed a lopsided offensive onslaught that was hard to believe for a semifinal match, wrapping up the second game 21-12 for a 2-0 victory, leaving her just one win away from claiming the first consecutive titles in the tournament's history.

The 17 total points conceded across both games marked the fewest points she has ever given up against Chen in their 32 career meetings.

[An Se-young / National Badminton Team: Whatever shots I hit, I played with some confidence, and they went in well. I think a lot of great plays came out of it, and I'll go out there and give it my absolute all in the final match.]

There is now just one step left until a new piece of history is written.

Tomorrow (September 29), An will play the much-anticipated final match against Japan's Yamaguchi, ranked third in the world.

Baek Hana and Lee So-hee, the silver medalists in the women's doubles at the Hangzhou tournament, also defeated a Japanese pair to advance to the final, where they will eye their first gold medal tomorrow against the world number one Chinese pair.

[Lee So-hee / National Badminton Team: There is only one game left, so fatigue and everything else don't matter. We will pour everything we have into this single final game.]

Yoo Tae-bin, ranked 46th in the world who sparked a semifinal sensation, lost to his Singaporean opponent and had to settle for being satisfied with winning South Korea's first men's singles bronze medal in 16 years.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Choi Dae-woong | Video by Lee Jae-sung | Graphics by Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.