An Se-young reached the semis at 59-1. Wang was in the other half
She beat Tanvi Sharma 21-15, 21-13 in Odense and said the 17-year-old might already be better than her in places. On Saturday, Yamaguchi knocked Wang out.
An Se-young, in the orange and white jacket, with bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Paris on Aug. 31. Akane Yamaguchi, in brown, won gold. Chen Yufei, in pink, took silver, and Putri Kusuma Wardani, on the far right, took the other bronze.
Photo: Persatuan Bulu Tangkis Seluruh Indonesia
On Friday at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense, An Se-young beat Tanvi Sharma, a 17-year-old she had never played, 21-15, 21-13. The year is now 59-1. The loss is still March 8 in Birmingham, where Wang Zhiyi beat her 21-15, 21-19 in the All England final after missing three match points. Wang won a quarterfinal in Odense on Friday too. She is in the other semi.
Ranked 24th, Tanvi had reached An by beating Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-17, 21-19. Li was the player who had just beaten Sindhu. For a while on Friday, Tanvi held her own in the rallies. A cross-court shot put her on the floor. She trailed 17-11 and could not get the first game back. An closed it 21-15. In the second, An led 11-5 at the interval and Tanvi was tiring. The game ended 21-13. “She’s a good attacking player, maybe better than me in some parts but she will be a top player in a couple of years,” An said.
A round earlier, An had beaten Denmark’s Line Christophersen 21-17, 21-9. Both of her wins in Odense have been straight games. The last match she lost was Birmingham. Last October, in this tournament, the final against Wang opened as if it might be short. An won the first game 21-5, and it took 16 minutes. Wang made her play the second out to 24-22. An took the title. She is here to defend it.
On Saturday, Wang plays Akane Yamaguchi, the player An beat for the world title in New Delhi and again for Asian Games gold in Nagoya. Wang’s Friday was a comeback. Putri Kusuma Wardani, the Indonesian on the far right of the photograph, led 11-3 and lost 17-21, 16-21.
An’s semi is Nozomi Okuhara, the 2017 world champion, ranked 11th. Okuhara is there because Tomoka Miyazaki retired injured. Miyazaki had won the first game 21-17 and lost the second 14-21. She stopped at 4-7 in the third, 52 minutes in. If An wins, she plays the winner of the other semi on Sunday.
In the photograph, from Paris last August, Yamaguchi is the one in brown with the gold medal. An is beside her in the orange jacket, with bronze. On Saturday Yamaguchi beat Wang 21-10, 21-19, and An beat Okuhara. The final is Sunday.