(Reporter Na Seung-woo, Xports News) While ‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young was away to recharge, Ahn Se-young’s biggest rival Chen Yu-fei (China) achieved her first win of the new year.
Chen Yufei, ranked 4th in the world, defeated Pichamon Opatnipus (Thailand), ranked 36th in the world, with a game score of 2-0 (23-21 21-13) in the women’s singles semifinals of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Indonesia Masters (Super 500) held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia on the 25th (Korean time).
Although the difference in skill was clear, it was a match in which Chen Yufei struggled more than expected. Chen Yufei, who played an exploration game at the beginning of the first game, easily exchanged rallies and induced Pichamon to make a mistake, winning the point.
Chen Yufei, who played the game leisurely, lightly repelling Pichamon’s attacks, did not care about conceding one or two points. Rather, it was Pichamon who was impatient. Seeing Chen Yufei effortlessly receiving attacks, Pichamon became agitated and began to gradually increase his movements, which led to several mistakes.
When Pichamon caught up to 5-5, Chen Yufei widened the gap by immediately winning a point as if he would not give up the lead. Chen Yufei scored consecutive points to get up to 9-7, and Pichamon’s attack hit the net, reaching 10 points. The 11th goal was also scored when Pichamon’s hairpin failed to pass the net. Chen Yufei, who reached 11 points first, entered the interval with a 4-point lead.
After the interval, Chen Yufei increased the attack tempo. He actively countered Pichamon’s attack. At times, he didn’t even spare a powerful smash. Pichamon also did not back down easily. In a 14-10 situation, they came down to three points and even trailed by one point.
Chen Yufei, who continued to increase the score without wavering, reached the game point at 20-17. However, after allowing three points, the team began to falter. However, they did not allow any surprises and took the first game at 23-21.
Chen Yufei, who finished the first game with difficulty, did not struggle much in the second game. Chen Yufei gave the lead to Pichamon at the beginning of the game, but after blocking Pichamon’s irregular attack, he took a breather and succeeded in coming back to 5-4, gradually accumulating points. Pichamon also fought hard. The score was tied again at 9-9. Afterwards, Chen Yufei gave up points with a series of errors, entering the interval with a 10-11 Pichamon lead.
Immediately after, Chen Yufei scored 6 consecutive points and quickly ran away with a 5-point lead. As Chen Yufei ran away, Pichamon’s stamina and concentration rapidly decreased. Pichamon’s smash hit the net and Chen Yufei, who completely brought the game to 19-12, reached the 20-13 game point and made the final attack to win 21-13.
This tournament’s top seed Chen Yufei defeated Japan’s veteran Nozomi Okuhara (world No. 27) in the semifinals with a game score of 2-0 (21-15 24-22).
Chen Yufei faced a crisis in which the match went to a deuce at the end of the second game, but he managed to secure the victory by combining Okuhara’s mistake with a decisive smash.
Chen Yufei continued her ‘perfect streak’ of not giving up a single game in this tournament and reached the finals.
His opponent in the finals was Pichamon, a 19-year-old rookie who came up with a frightening momentum. Pichamon, known as the ‘Thai Princess’, defeated Malaysia’s Karupateban Rechana 2-0 (21-15 21-17) in the semifinals.
Pichamon’s actions in this competition can be expressed as ‘breaking the seal.’
In the round of 16, he pulled off a surprise by defeating Tomoka Miyazaki, Japan’s ‘badminton fairy’ and ranked 9th in the world, and defeated Vietnamese powerhouse Nguyen Tuy Linh (21st) in the quarterfinals.
It is evaluated that the potential of the 2023 World Junior Championship champion is exploding on the adult stage as well.
The match between the two players took place in just three weeks.
When they first met in the first round of the Malaysia Open earlier this month, Pichamon won the first game against Chen Yufei and engaged in a fierce battle for over an hour. Although he lost due to lack of experience, he left a deep impression by pushing Chen Yufei to the brink.
In the battle to see whether the skillful Chen Yu-Fei would keep his pride, or whether Pichamon would pull off another upset and win his first Super 500 title, the winner was determined to be Chen Yu-Fei.
Chen Yufei, who failed to advance to the finals in two world tours due to injuries and poor performance at the beginning of the season, took advantage of the absence of top ranking players such as An Se-young, Wang Ziyi (China), and Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) to aim for the championship trophy in this tournament. They achieved a perfect win by winning all five games with a game score of 2-0.
Chen Yufei won the Thailand Open (Super 500) and Singapore Open (Super 750) back-to-back in May last year. In particular, at the Singapore Open, he became a hot topic by knocking out Ahn Se-young in the quarterfinals.
At the Malaysia Open and India Open (Super 750) held prior to this year’s Indonesia Masters, he each withdrew in the semifinals. At the Malaysia Open, ahead of her match with Ahn Se-young, she withdrew due to injury. At the India Open, she lost 0-2 to her Chinese rival Wang Zhiyi.
Ahn Se-young rose to the top of this tournament, missing due to injury, and achieved her first international championship in about six months since the Macau Open in July of last year.
There is a possibility that Chen Yu-fei and An Se-young will face off in the 127-year-old All England Open in March. Seyoung Ahn is attempting to win her third title along with her second consecutive victory in the competition. Chen Yufei aims to regain the top spot for the first time in 7 years since winning in 2019. If the two maintain their current world rankings, they could meet in the semifinals or finals.
Photo = Yonhap News / SNS
Reporter Na Seung-woo winright95@xportsnews.com
