Shuttlecock’s Ahn advances to quarterfinals; four doubles teams also advance.
South Korean women’s badminton standout Ahn Se-young has reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Individual Championships.
The world No. 1 defeated world No. 10 Beiwen Zhang (USA) 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) in the round of 16 of the women’s singles event on Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ahn’s quarterfinal opponent is Nozomi Okuhara (JPN), ranked 36th in the world, who should have no trouble reaching the last four.
Ahn will be looking to become the first South Korean woman to reach a women’s singles final in 30 years, since Su Hwang Hyun, who was runner-up in 1993. She has yet to win a women’s singles title.
Last year, Ahn reached the women’s singles quarterfinals for the first time in seven years, but was knocked out by Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) in the final.
On the day, the doubles event also saw two more Korean players advance to the quarterfinals.
Women’s doubles Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong defeated Hong Kong, while men’s doubles Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk defeated Chinese Taipei to reach the quarterfinals.
Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong reached the final last year, seeking their first title in 27 years since Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ok in 1995, but were upset by then world No. 1 Chen Qing-chen and Zhao Zifan (China).
Mixed doubles pairs Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yoo-jung and Kim Won-ho-Chung also punched their tickets to the quarterfinals with wins over Thailand and Chinese Taipei respectively.
The World Individual Championships, first held in Sweden in 1977, is the most prestigious international event in which five individual events (men’s singles, women’s singles, 카지노사이트킴 men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles) are played in a tournament format.