Korean women’s singles champion An Se-young might have driven out her toughest opponent on the circuit, Akane Yamaguchi, on Saturday itself at the All England.
In a no-fuss straight sets win, Se-young ousted the Japanese who held a superior 14-12 head to head record against her. The rivalry is so tight that Se-young has scored 1151 points against Yamaguchi, while the senior Japanese has precisely 1 point more, notching 1152 against the Korean through their careers.
So the Olympic champion and the most dominant shuttler of the last two years is now up against Wang Zhi Yi of China.
Semifinals days was a scary throwback to 2012 – a time when Chinese shuttlers, the many strong Wangs, thronged All England finals in all categories and swept titles. Now there’s steady opposition to that dominance, and An Se-young is at the forefront of that resistance. She leads Zhi Yi 9-4 in career head to heads, but 3 of those 4 Chinese wins have come in the last 6 faceoffs between the two.
Zhi Yi has narrowed the points gap to 24, as she has 532 and the Koeean 556. Remarkably, one of the reverses Zhi Yi inflicted on Se-young came at the Denmark finals, and the Korean is considered near-unbeatable on Sundays in recent years. Se-young also lost at the World Tour Finals to Zhi Yi, though the Korean pulled one back at Malaysia start of this season.
The quick movers on the court, those who run exceptionally well to retrieve and can push the pace, have always troubled Se-young. Footwork is the Korean’s absolute strength, but Yamaguchi and Chen Yufei have both been on an even keel against her because they move excellently on the court.
Se-young isn’t particularly troubled by deception (Ratchanok, 1 win, 10 losses with massive point differential 436 vs 518 or Tai Tzu-ying, 3 wins, 12 losses, and PD of 623 vs 691). Power completely doesn’t faze her (PV Sindhu, 7-0 wins for Korean and Point differential of over 100 – 312-207).
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Though, left handers have snuck in wins against her. Maximum success after Yamaguchi, Yufei was He Bingjiao (576 points vs 525; 9-5) and Carolina Marin (462 vs 444; 6-4). She also has a negative H2H against her senior Sung Ji Hyun (2-3) but that is to be expected in her earliest years.
The newest generation hasn’t fared too well against Se-young with Tomoka Miyazaki (3-0, and 147-80 on points) and Han Yue (8-1, 460 vs 401 pretty much outplayed).
Wang Zhi Yi will attempt a Denmark encore, but is a firm underdog in the contest.
