Korea’s sole hope, An Se Young, advanced to the semifinals after a 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) comeback victory over Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.
Before heading to the 2024 Olympics, the head coach of the Korean national badminton team set an ambitious goal of winning at least three gold medals to achieve their best historical performance. However, with the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles all failing to win any medals, and only the mixed doubles pair securing a silver medal, An Se Young is the only one left to carry Korea’s hopes.
In the men’s singles, Jeon Hyeok-jin was eliminated in the group stage. The multi-event player Seo Seung-jae, exhausted from continuous matches, failed to secure any medals. He lost in the men’s doubles quarterfinals 19-21, 20-22 to the Danish pair Anders and Sorensen, and in the mixed doubles semifinals, he was defeated 1-2 (16-21, 22-20, 21-23) by his teammates Kim Won-ho and Jung Na-eun, and then lost the bronze medal match 0-2 to Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino. Fortunately, the mixed doubles pair eventually reached the final and won the silver medal.
Additionally, the women’s doubles, which had high hopes for gold, also failed to secure any medals. Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong lost in the quarterfinals 12-21, 13-21 to Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, while the other women’s doubles pair, Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, were defeated 9-21, 13-21 by China’s Liu Xuanxuan and Tan Ning.
Korea’s sole hope, An Se Young, advanced to the semifinals after a 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) comeback victory over Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.
Akane Yamaguchi, born June 6, 1997 in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, Japan , is a Japanese badminton player and the 2021 and 2022 World Badminton Championships women’s singles champion.
In July 2012, Yamaguchi lost to Hope Okuhara in the women’s singles semifinals of the Asian Junior Badminton Championships, winning the bronze medal. In October-November of the same year, Yamaguchi lost to teammate Hope Okuhara in the women’s singles final of the World Junior Badminton Championships, finishing second.
In September 2013, Yamaguchi won the Japan Badminton Super Tournament. Yamaguchi became the first local player to win the Japan Open in 32 years and the youngest winner of the Super Series. In February 2014, at the Asian U19 Youth Badminton Championships, Yamaguchi won the women’s singles title with a 2-0 victory over Chen Yufei.
In the women’s singles final of the 2017 Badminton World Federation China Super Series, Yamaguchi won the title with a 2-0 victory over Gao Fangjie.On December 17, in the women’s singles final of the 2017 Badminton World Federation Super Series Finals, Yamaguchi won the title with a 2-1 victory over India’s Sindhu.
At the 2018 Badminton Asia Team Championships, Yamaguchi defeated Chen Yufei 2-1 to win the team title.On April 18, Yamaguchi surpassed Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying to move to the top spot in the latest women’s singles rankings of the Badminton World Federation.On May 27, Yamaguchi played as Japan’s No. 1 singles player at the Uber Cup, defeating Thailand’s Indra Nong in the final and thus helping Japan’s women’s team to win their first Uber Cup title.On August 22 On August 22, 2018, in the women’s team badminton tournament at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the Japanese team of Akane Yamaguchi, Yuki Fukushima, Saika Hirota, Hope Okuhara, Misaki Matsutomo, and Reika Takahashi won the women’s team title with a 3-1 victory over China.
On April 28, 2019, Xi Yamaguchi won the women’s singles final of the 2019 Badminton Asia Championships with a 2-0 victory over China’s He Bingjiao.
In the women’s singles final of the 2019 Japan Open Badminton Championships, Akane Yamaguchi won the women’s singles title with a 2-0 victory over Hope O’Hara, and will also overtake Tai Tzu Ying and regain the top spot in the world rankings next week.
On October 3, 2021, in the final of the Sudirman Cup World Mixed Team Badminton Championships, the Japanese team consisting of Akane Yamaguchi, Joran Hogi, Yogo Kobayashi, Kendo Momota, Mayu Matsumoto, and Misaki Matsutomo lost to the Chinese team 1-3 to finish as the runner-up. on October 17, 2021, she was the runner-up of the 2021 Uber Cup World Women’s Badminton Team Championships.
On December 19, 2021, Yamaguchi won the Women’s Singles Final of the World Badminton Championships with a 2-0 victory over Tai Tzu Ying.
On August 28, 2022, Yamaguchi defended her World Badminton Championships Women’s Singles title by defeating Chen Yufei 21-12,10-21,21-14 in the Women’s Singles Final at the World Badminton Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
