Wang Ziyi. EPAYonhap News
Chen Yufei. Shinhwa Yonhap News
In the competition between Chinese players, it was Wang Ziyi (2nd place, China) who won the final ticket. Wang Zhiyi defeated Chen Yufei (4th place, China) to advance to the India Open final.
Wang Zhiyi defeated Chen Yufei with a set score of 2-0 (21-15 23-21) 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 this, Wang Zhiyi advanced to the women’s singles final. Also, following the previous Malaysia Open, he reached the finals of two consecutive tournaments this year. In addition, he finally achieved his second win against Chen Yu-fei, who had been tormenting him as much as Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance). Before today’s match, Wang Zhiyi was at an absolute disadvantage of 1 win and 10 losses against Chen Yufei, and her last win was at the Asian Championship in April 2024.
The game was tense until the middle of the first set, but the mood began to gradually decrease as Wang Zhiyi scored 6 points in a row to make it 10-11. Chen Yufei followed up with 2 points, but Wang Ziyi scored 4 consecutive points to make the set point 20-13. At 20-15, Chen Yufei’s attack missed significantly and Wang Ziyi took the first set.
The second set also had a tight flow, with the balance not easily lost until the middle. Then, at 11-11, the score seemed to be leaning towards Chen Yufei as she scored 4 consecutive points. However, Wang Ziyi immediately scored three consecutive points to reduce the gap to one point. Chen Yufei widened the gap again by winning two points in a row, but in the ensuing rally, Wang Zhiyi’s powerful straight smash succeeded and the tide turned. At 16-18, Chen Yufei tried to attack in front of the net, but missed the line, reducing the gap to one point again.
Wang Ziyi. AP Yonhap News
Nevertheless, Wang Ziyi, who was on the verge of losing the set at 18-20, caught up again when Chen Yufei’s smash hit the net, and in the ensuing rally, Chen Yufei’s diagonal backhand failed to pass the net again, sending the game to a deuce. After creating a match point with a strong body attack at 21-21, Chen Yufei’s attack crossed the sideline, putting an end to the long game.
Wang Ziyi, who has been in ‘overwhelming second place’ for a long time following ‘overwhelming first place’ Ahn Se-young, is considered one of the players who can prevent Ahn Se-young from winning every competition. However, his opponent’s record is 4 wins and 17 losses, which means he is completely behind Ahn Se-young. In particular, last year, he faced a whopping 8 times and lost all of them, so he literally had to cry due to the ‘Ahn Se-young jinx’. In the World Tour Finals, which was the last competition last year, the sight of the team shedding tears in the mixed zone after finishing in second place again after a fierce battle in the finals became a hot topic.
The jinx continues this year as well. Wang Zhiyi, who met Ahn Se-young again in the final of the Malaysia Open, which was the first tournament of the year, took the lead throughout the first and second sets with a performance different from before, but was unable to overcome Ahn Se-young’s barrier and finished in second place again. In particular, it was quite a shock to be overturned while leading 17-9 in the second set.
Wang Ziyi faced a somewhat difficult match in this tournament. This is because they were in the same bracket as domestic strong players such as Chen Yufei (4th) and Han Yue (5th). In addition, he had to compete in full sets twice, which drained a lot of his stamina. However, at a critical moment, he won against Chen Yufei, his other nemesis, and had another opportunity to win.
Wang Ziyi. Getty Images Korea
