An Se-young's Strong Start Not Enough as S. Korea Suffers Disappointing Defeat to Japan in Badminton

[Anchor]

Our national team, attempting to secure consecutive titles in the Asian Games women's team badminton event, unfortunately failed to reach the finals. Although world number one An Se-young successfully gained the early momentum, South Korea conceded three consecutive matches to Japan, having to settle for a bronze medal.

Reporter Jeon Yeongmin has the story from the venue.

[Reporter]

Stepping up as the first runner in the team semifinal against Japan, An Se-young applied early pressure on world number three Yamaguchi, against whom she had been on a seven-match winning streak in recent encounters.

After diving to defend, she immediately claimed points with smashes, piercing diagonal attacks into every corner to capture the first game.

Although she dropped the second game after getting caught in Yamaguchi's pace, she quickly regained her composure and overwhelmed Yamaguchi once again in the final game to secure the opening victory.

However, the national team failed to maintain the momentum.

In the second doubles match, the world number two pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Hana lost 2 to 0. In the third singles match, Shim Yu-jin, and in the final doubles match, the duo of Kim Hye-jeong and Jeong Na-eun also bowed their heads in succession, dashing hopes of advancing to the finals with a score of 1 win and 3 losses.

The national badminton team will resume their hunt for medals in the individual events starting on September 25.

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Wushu star Lee Ha-sung claimed a precious silver medal.

After raising expectations by finishing second in the daoshu event, Lee Ha-sung completed the gunshu event without major mistakes, stepping onto the podium once again 12 years after winning the gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

(Video by Yang Doo-won | Video Editing by Lee Hong-myung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.