Yeosu: The “Big Four” of women’s singles, Akane Yamaguchi, Tai Tzu Ying, An Se Young, and Chen Yufei once again going to take on each other in the semi-finals in the 2023 Korea Open, just as they did in the Singapore Open Super 750 back in June.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, we witness the same exciting matchups as in the Singapore event. World No. 1 Japanese champion Akane Yamaguchi will go against Chinese Taipei’s World No. 4, Tai Tzu Ying, while South Korea’s World No. 2, An Se Young, will battle it out with China’s Olympic champion Chen Yufei, currently ranked No. 3 in the world.
Saturday’s match-up will mark the 23rd encounter between Akane Yamaguchi and Tai Tzu Ying, with both players securing 11 wins each. While Yamaguchi managed to achieve 5 consecutive victories against Tai from July 2019 to January 2023, Tai finally turned the tables and defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the Badminton Asia Championships held in April of this year.
In today’s top 8, Akane Yamaguchi emerged victorious after three intense rounds of play against South Korea’s Kim Ga-Eun with scores of 21-17, 19-21, 21-12. On the other hand, Tai Tzu Ying secured her spot in the semi-finals after defeating China’s Zhang Yiman with scores of 21-17, 21-15.
The other semi-final matchup features the 15th confrontation between An Se Young and Chen Yufei, with Chen Yufei holding the advantage with 10 victories in their previous encounters.
Their last five matches have all taken place this year. An Se Young initially claimed a wave of three consecutive victories, but Chen Yufei bounced back and emerged victorious in their last two encounters, including eliminating An Se Young in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Super 1000.
Both players faced tough challenges today. Chen Yufei managed to secure her spot in the semi-finals after defeating teammate Wang Zhiyi with scores of 10-21, 25-23, 21-12, while An Se Young showcased her prowess and defeated her compatriot Sim Yu Jin with scores of 21-7, 21-6.
