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Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), the world’s best women’s badminton player, defeated her arch-rival Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) for two days in a row and took the final step toward dominating the King of Kings.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 3 Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) in the women’s singles semifinals of the 2025 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in China on the 20th.
Ahn Se-young, who achieved a 2-1 comeback victory over Yamaguchi in the third game of group A of the preliminary round held the previous day and took first place in the group, defeated her opponent with an overwhelming performance on this day as well.
With this win, Seyoung Ahn expanded her record against Yamaguchi to 17 wins and 15 losses. They recorded 3 wins and 1 loss in head-to-head matches this season.
Immediately after the game started, when Yamaguchi’s hairpin hit the net, Ahn Se-young’s smash aimed at the corner exquisitely penetrated inside the line and took the lead from the beginning of the first game.
At 6-6, he was unable to save Yamaguchi’s smash, allowing a reversal, and after a long rally, he missed the timing to react to the opponent’s quick attack and fell to 8-10.
Ahn Se-young succeeded in bringing the score back to 13-12 through his unique play that drained the opponent, and later widened the gap further, taking the game to 21-15.
Game 2 was a tight match with a fierce rally from the beginning, but Ahn Se-young won all the points and widened the gap to 8-0.
Ahn Se-young, who took a big 11-1 lead and took a breather, continued the game while maintaining the lead, and at 20-12, her opponent’s clear went off the line and she took the win.
Ahn Se-young, who collected 10 championship trophies this year and surpassed the record for most wins (9 wins) in a single season in women’s singles that she set in 2023, will attempt to set a new record again by reaching the top spot in the final match of the season.
