An Se-young nears Grand Slam with Japan win

An Se-young, 23, claimed the top spot again at the Badminton World Federation World Tour Japan Open. This victory, seen as a warm-up to the season-ending Super 1000 China Open, moved An closer to becoming the first player in BWF World Tour history to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam.

An, the world No. 1 in women’s singles, defeated second-ranked Wang Zhiyi, 25, of China in the final held July 20 in Tokyo. She won in just 42 minutes, sweeping 2-0 (21-12, 21-10). This marks the fourth time this season An has beaten Wang in a final, improving her head-to-head record to 13-4.

This is An’s second Japan Open title and her first in two years. She missed last year’s tournament due to knee and ankle injuries sustained after the Paris Olympics. The Japan Open was also An’s first World Tour event since signing a major sponsorship deal worth 10 billion won with Yonex. When announcing the contract on July 1, An promised to repay fans with strong performances.

Though the Japan Open is classified as a Super 750 tournament, one level below the top Super 1000 tier, it attracted most of the world’s leading players ahead of the China Open. An claimed the title without dropping a set, including a straight-sets victory over her “nemesis” Chen Yufei, ranked fifth, in the quarterfinals.

After winning three consecutive Super 1000 tournaments this season, including the Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open and All England Open, An will attempt to make history by winning all Super 1000 events in a single season when the China Open begins July 22. No female singles player or any badminton player or team has ever achieved this feat.


김정훈 기자 hun@donga.com