(Xports News Reporter Kim Ji-su) Japan’s proud badminton women’s doubles ace team Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto bowed their heads, unable to overcome Korea’s ‘natural enemies’. The Japanese media is also unable to hide its disappointment.
Badminton women’s doubles world rankings No. 6 Lee So-hee and Baek Hana defeated Japan’s No. 5 Fukushima-Matsumoto pair with a game score of 2-0 (21-16 21-12) in the semifinals of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Malaysia Open (Super 1000) held at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 10th (Korean time).
The team of Lee So-hee and Baek Hana defeated the Fukushima-Matsumoto team to win the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals held in Hangzhou, China in December last year, and also won their first match of the new year.
The Fukushima-Matsumoto pair won the Malaysia Open women’s doubles title last year, defeating China, who won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Japan has emerged as a badminton powerhouse since the 2010s, and among them, women’s doubles is the strongest. The Fukushima-Matsumoto group aimed for their second consecutive victory in this year’s tournament, but bowed to the Lee So-hee-Baek Hana group.
The Fukushima-Matsumoto team sailed through the Malaysia Open this year, winning the round of 32, round of 16, and quarterfinals with a game score of 2-0. However, the Japanese media seemed to be taken aback as they were completely defeated by the pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na in the finals.
Japanese media ‘Nippon TV News NNN’ reported that the Malaysian Open women’s doubles ‘defending champion’ Fukushima-Matsumoto pair was eliminated in the semifinals,” adding, “They won straight wins until the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals with overwhelming performance, but failed to attack the difficult opponent.”
The Fukushima-Matsumoto team was unable to exert any effort against the Korean team of Lee So-hee and Baek Hana, whom they met in the semifinals. While he was already inferior to his opponents with 1 win and 3 losses, he suffered the bitter taste of defeat once again at this year’s Malaysia Open.
‘Nippon TV News NNN’ explained, “Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na were a somewhat difficult opponent (for Fukushima and Matsumoto),” and “After giving up the lead in the early part of the first game by conceding consecutive goals, the game continued to be a one-point game in the middle, but Korea took control after that.”
He also evaluated, “In the second game, difficult developments continued as 9 consecutive goals were allowed. The Fukushima-Matsumoto group desperately chased, but lost 12-21, with the game score being 0-2.”
Due to the failure of the Fukushima-Matsumoto group to advance to the finals, Japan suffered the humiliation of not only producing winners in all events at this year’s Malaysia Open, but also failing to advance to the finals.
Meanwhile, the pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Hana continued their upward trend by winning the World Tour Finals for two consecutive years and advancing to the finals of the Malaysia Open. After reaching the top of the 2024 World Tour Finals, he has shaken off the disappointment of experiencing a bit of a downturn and is once again showing off his world-class chemistry and skills.
In addition to the women’s doubles team of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, Korea’s ‘Badminton Emperor’ Ahn Se-young has reached the women’s singles final and is attempting to win the tournament for the third time in a row. There is a high possibility that this year’s Malaysia Open will become a stage for Korean badminton.
Photo = Yonhap News
Reporter Jisoo Kim jisoo@xportsnews.com
