Ahn Se-young Comes from Behind to Defeat Yamaguchi... Advances to Semifinals [Paris Olympics]

World No. 1 An Se-young (22, Samsung Life) advanced to the semifinals of the women's singles badminton event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On the 3rd, An Se-young defeated Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) in the women's singles quarterfinals held at the Porte de la Chapelle arena in Paris, France.

On the 31st (local time), An Se-young is celebrating after securing a spot in the quarterfinals by defeating France's Qi Xepai 2-0 in the women's singles preliminary round of the 2024 Paris Olympics badminton event held at La Chapelle Arena in Paris, France.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the match, although it seemed that Yamaguchi took the early lead, An Se-young evened the score in the second game and fully came alive in the third game to secure the final victory.

In the first game, An Se-young tried to catch up after falling behind 5-10 early on but narrowly missed tying the score. Trailing 14-15, An Se-young missed a chance to equalize due to a clear error, and Yamaguchi was fortunate as the shuttlecock hit the net and crossed over in the next rally. Afterward, An Se-young made frequent unforced errors and fell behind by 5 points (20 points for Yamaguchi). Ultimately, the first game went to Yamaguchi, who was lucky with a net-hit hairpin shot.

However, An Se-young regained momentum in the second game. At 8-6, she consecutively displayed precise diagonal hairpin shots and powerful smashes to reach 10 points. She maintained a lead of about 5 points over her opponent. Although she faced a tie threat at 17-16, she secured game point with a confident smash at 20-17.

In the third game, she surged ahead from the start with a 6-1 lead. She then steadily extended the score to 15-6, finishing the game with a 13-point margin.