Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defends in a match against world number three Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 women’s singles semifinal held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 20th. Ahn Se-young won the game with a score of 2-0 that day, taking one step closer to becoming the top player for the first time in four years. Yonhap News
(Reporter Kim Ji-su, Xports News) Japanese media praised Ahn Se-young as the ‘Olympic queen’ and reported the loss of their country’s ace, Akane Yamaguchi.
Ahn Se-young defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, ranked third in the world, with a game score of 2-0 (21-15 21-12) in the women’s singles semifinals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 20th (Korean time).
Ahn Se-young had a match-up with Yamaguchi in the semifinals following the final match of Group A on the 19th. In major international competitions, a cross tournament is held in which the 1st and 2nd place in the group battle against the 1st and 2nd place in the other group, but in the World Tour Finals, the semifinal matchup was decided through a draw.
Because of this, Ahn Se-young had a return match with Yamaguchi in one day. Although he had a slight advantage in the opponent’s record with 16 wins and 15 losses, Yamaguchi was clearly a ‘natural enemy’. Yamaguchi also showed off his outstanding performance in the group stage on the 19th by pushing Ahn Se-young hard in the first game.
Ahn Se-young overwhelmed Yamaguchi, whom she met two days in a row. They were dragged down to 9-11 in the middle of the first game, but gradually regained control and achieved a tie and a comeback. After taking a 17-13 lead, they won 1 game 21-17.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defends in a match against world number three Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 women’s singles semifinal held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 20th. Ahn Se-young won the game with a score of 2-0 that day, taking one step closer to becoming the top player for the first time in four years. Yonhap News
Ahn Se-young drove the momentum and swallowed up two games. By running away with an 8-0 lead, they actually took the lead early on. From the middle of the game, the gap was consistently maintained by more than 10 points, and the game ended comfortably.
In particular, Se-young Ahn received applause from the audience by defeating Yamaguchi with fantastic defense and speed control in the early rally situation of the second game. Yamaguchi’s will to chase was completely broken with a perfect play that showed no loopholes.
Although Ahn Se-young won by a landslide, Yamaguchi is clearly the world’s best badminton player. She is a living legend in Japanese women’s badminton who has won the world championship in women’s singles three times. However, he has no experience reaching the podium at the Summer Olympics. Although she has experience winning the team event at the Summer Asian Games, her best result in women’s singles is a bronze medal.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defends in a match against world number three Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 women’s singles semifinal held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 20th. Ahn Se-young won the game with a score of 2-0 that day, taking one step closer to becoming the top player for the first time in four years. Yonhap News
Yamaguchi’s recent momentum wasn’t bad. Last August, she won the women’s singles title at the 2025 World Championships held in Paris, France, defeating China’s Chen Yufei, another nemesis of An Se-young. In September, she made Ahn Se-young cry in the Korea Open final and kissed the trophy.
Ahn Se-young was behind Yamaguchi in her opponent’s record, but recently succeeded in overcoming her ‘natural enemy’. Following the Denmark Open last October, he showed off his spirit by winning both games of the World Tour Finals.
Japanese media ‘TBS NEWS DIG’ reported, “World champion Yamaguchi was defeated by the Olympic queen. She will win the women’s singles bronze medal at the BWF World Tour Finals 2025,” and “Yamaguchi lost to Paris Olympic gold medalist Ahn Se-young with a game score of 0-2.”
He added, “Only the players with the best performance in badminton’s men’s and women’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles this year will participate in the BWF World Tour Finals,” adding, “We won a bronze medal (despite losing in the semifinals) in accordance with the tournament regulations without a third-place match.”
Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defends in a match against world number three Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 women’s singles semifinal held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 20th. Ahn Se-young won the game with a score of 2-0 that day, taking one step closer to becoming the top player for the first time in four years. Yonhap News
Photo = Yonhap News
Reporter Jisoo Kim jisoo@xportsnews.com
