Seyoung Ahn. EPAYonhap News
Ratchanok Inthanon. AP Yonhap News
Now there is only one step left to win. ‘Shuttlecock Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) advanced to the finals of the India Open and will challenge for her second championship this year.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defeated Ratchanok Inthanon (8th, Thailand) in the women’s singles semifinals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour India Open (Super 750) held in New Delhi, India on the 17th, with a set score of 2-0 (21-11 21-7) in 32 minutes and reached the final.
Ahn Se-young, the ‘defending champion’ of this competition, is challenging to win the competition for the second time in a row and for the third time in her career. In addition, the gap against Inthanon widened to 13 wins and 1 loss. After losing in the 2019 Sudirman Cup, their first meeting, they went on to win 13 consecutive matches.
Seyoung Ahn. Getty Images Korea
Ahn Se-young showed light movement from the beginning of the first set. Ahn Se-young, who took a long lead by scoring 6 points right from the start, entered the interval with an 11-6 lead. Ahn Se-young, who continued to widen the gap after the interval, easily won the first set with a sharp diagonal attack across the line at a 20-11 set point.
Ahn Se-young’s momentum did not break in the second set. Ahn Se-young, who broke Inthanon’s momentum with a strong straight attack at 4-4, then succeeded in two sharp diagonal attacks in a row, adding to Inthanon’s mistake and running away with 8-4. In the end, Ahn Se-young, who went into the interval with an 11-5 lead, overwhelmed Intanon with strong attacks even after the interval, and ended the game like that.
Ahn Se-young’s opponent in the finals is Wang Ziyi (2nd place, China). Wang Zhiyi defeated ‘Ahn Se-young’s archenemy’ Chen Yufei (4th place, China) in the semifinals held earlier with a set score of 2-0 (21-15 23-21). However, it was not an easy match, as the match took a whopping 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Wang Ziyi. Shinhwa Yonhap News
Wang Zhiyi, who has been ranked second in the world for a long time after Ahn Se-young, is considered one of the players who can prevent Ahn Se-young from winning every tournament. However, his opponent’s record is 4 wins and 17 losses, which means he is completely behind Ahn Se-young.
Until 2024, Ahn Se-young and Wang Ziyi’s record was not much different at 8 wins and 4 losses. However, the gap widened significantly as Ahn Se-young won all eight matches last year. Due to the nature of the 1st and 2nd place rankings, the confrontation always took place in the finals, and Ahn Se-young always smiled at the end of the grueling match. In the World Tour Finals, which was the last match last year, the sight of Wang Ziyi, who finished second again after a fierce battle in the finals, shedding tears in the mixed zone became a hot topic.
Ahn Se-young met Wang Zhiyi again in the finals of the Malaysia Open, the first tournament of the year. At this time, Wang Ziyi was determined and pushed Ahn Se-young to gain momentum, but in the end, Ahn Se-young won. In particular, the highlight was turning the game around when they were down 9-17 in the second set.
Seyoung Ahn. Shinhwa Yonhap News
