Tomoka Miyazaki, Japan’s 20-year-old badminton star, beat China’s Han Qianxi 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) in the round of 16 at the 2026 BWF World Tour Korea Open Super 500 in Gwangju on Wednesday, setting up a possible semifinal against world No. 1 An Se-young — a player she has never beaten in eight meetings, koreadaily.com reported.
Miyazaki controlled the match from the start, rattling off six straight points early in the first game to lead 15-4 and never letting Han score more than 10 points in a game. She opened the second 4-0 and cruised to the quarterfinals, where she will face fellow Japanese Akane Akechi, against whom she holds a 7-0 head-to-head record.
An, the 24-year-old, also reached the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-12) win over Malaysia’s world No. 28. She next faces Japan’s Riko Gunji, ranked 20th, meaning An could play Japanese opponents in three consecutive matches if both advance. A Miyazaki-An semifinal is expected if both reach that stage, with An holding an 8-0 edge in their series, including a straight-sets win in the September China Masters final.
YEOSU VICTOR Korea Open 2026 WS – R32 21 21 🇯🇵Tomoka MIYAZAKI🏅 11 16 HUANG Ching Ping 🕚 in 38 minutes
Miyazaki: ‘Many Things Still Lacking to Beat An’
Asked after her win whether she wanted to face An, Miyazaki said she could not guarantee a win in her next match but would give her best. She said she wanted to test how far she could go against the Korean and show her best play with the right mindset.
She was candid about the gap between them. To beat An, she said, many things were still lacking — the shots, but above all An’s posture that never breaks down in any situation, her ability to keep balance in any direction and recover quickly even from a collapsed position. Those physical qualities, Miyazaki said, were something she wanted to learn from.
Yamaguchi Could Await in the Final
If An reaches the final, her most likely opponent is fellow rival Akane Yamaguchi, ranked world No. 2. An has won all 10 of their meetings, including the finals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the Denmark Open. Yamaguchi said after her first-round win that she wanted another shot at An and would focus on reaching the final one match at a time, noting that her matches against An have been getting closer lately.
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