Yamaguchi on Defeat to An Se-young: 'It's Wonderful to Have Someone to Challenge'

From an outside perspective, the plight of competitors forced to share an era with the overwhelmingly dominant "undisputed powerhouse" An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) might seem harsh.

This is because, despite possessing world-class skills, they are repeatedly pushed aside by An's relentless solo run and left to linger in second place.

However, the pride of a true competitor tells a different story.

Yamaguchi, who had to settle for a silver medal after being blocked by An's towering wall in the final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, showed true sportsmanship, saying, "Having a player that I can continuously challenge and fight against is something truly wonderful and great for me right now."

The 156 cm "little giant" Yamaguchi is a undisputed world-class player who has been crowned champion three times at the World Championships and reigned as world number one for 74 weeks.

Despite her mature age of 28, she firmly holds the number three spot in the world rankings and is considered one of the few viable contenders capable of threatening An Se-young.

Yet, facing the unstoppable An Se-young, Yamaguchi put past glory behind her and thoroughly embraced the mindset of a challenger.

Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone after the final, she said, "An Se-young is such a strong player that I wouldn't say I had nothing to lose, but I approached the match with a mindset of taking on a challenge. Rather than wanting to avoid someone because they are too strong, it's actually great to have a player to challenge."


Although Yamaguchi has recently fallen into a nine-game losing streak against An, she showed her grit by taking a game off An in the women's team semifinals held prior to the individual event.

It was a rare game dropped by An, who had swept through the World Championships and China Masters with flawless performances.

Yamaguchi shared, "I approached the match by combining my experience playing against An Se-young at the previous All England Open and the strategy from when I defeated world number two Wang Zhiyi (China) the day before. There were good aspects, but in the end, I faltered."

She continued, "Blocked by An's defense, I couldn't sustain pressure with consecutive attacks, and the flow kept breaking, forcing me to restart rallies from scratch. No matter how good my condition is, you cannot always completely break down an opponent, so I think I need to ponder more on one or two sure scoring options I can pull out in situations like this, or game developments that An Se-young might find tricky."

Early in the first game today, Yamaguchi used all her energy to launch a fierce attack and initially seized the initiative.

However, An Se-young neutralized all of Yamaguchi's attacks with relaxed defense to claim the first game, and in the second game, she quickly brought the match to a close while keeping a fatigued Yamaguchi restricted to just 9 points.

Despite the defeat, Yamaguchi pointed out, "In this match, my attacks connected well for points, and I held on without easily giving up points during long rallies or defensive situations. I believe that dragging out rallies like this can also induce unforced errors from An Se-young."

She added, "Since forcibly raising the tempo could lead to my own unforced errors, I will maintain a stable pace and refine my balance between offense and defense," showing her unwavering resolve.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.