Badminton powerhouse Ahn Se-young (world No. 1) got off to a shaky start against Yamaguchi Akane (No. 3).
On the 19th, An is playing the third Group A match (final) of the Women’s Singles at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in China.
The World Tour Finals is a king of kings competition in which the top eight compete for the championship in two groups of four players each. First and second place in each group will go to the semifinal tournament.
Ahn was in Group A along with Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani (7th) and Miyazaki Tomoka (9th). He beat Wardani 2-1 in the first game and Miyazaki 2-0 in the second game to secure two wins. Today’s opponent, Yamaguchi, also recorded two wins.
Both Ahn Se-young and Yamaguchi have already confirmed their trip to the tournament. It’s a game that determines the first and second place in the group, but the motivation is not great. In the case of this tournament, the tournament opponent will be decided by lottery depending on the performance. The group ranking doesn’t have much influence.
The all-time record is tight with 15 wins and 15 losses in 30 games. However, Ahn Se-young is strong this season. In five face-to-face encounters, he had an advantage with four wins and one loss.
The tense flow of one game continued. Ahn Se-young took the lead in the situation of exchanging points. He led the way by scoring consecutive points at 4-4. At 6-5, he scored three consecutive points with a calm attack and ran away.
However, Yamaguchi did not step down easily. He set off a sharp attack. Ahn Se-young allowed five runs in a row due to shaky defense.
Ahn Se-young succeeded in chasing until 10-10, but gave Yamaguchi the lead again after the interval. Yamaguchi continued to dig into Anse-young with a sharp attack. Ahn was dragged away by allowing five runs again at 11-11.
Afterwards, Ahn Se-young chased, but even made a mistake due to Yamaguchi’s onslaught. In the end, one game was lost 14-21.
[Kim Young Hoon, MK Sports Reporter]
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