"21-5? I Thought My Eyes Were Deceiving Me" An Se-young Crushes Nemesis Chen Yufei in Straight Games in Just 38 Minutes to Reach Final [2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I saw the score on the scoreboard: 21-5. It was a scoreline far beyond the kind of two-to-one margin one might see even in an amateur badminton match.
The opponent was not an unknown player, but China's world No. 4 Chen Yufei, once regarded as An Se-young's biggest rival.
In front of the 'shuttlecock queen' An Se-young of Samsung Life Insurance, even the Great Wall of China looked like nothing more than a fragile sandcastle. With a merciless barrage, An defeated Chen Yufei and moved to within one step of reaching the uncharted summit of winning back-to-back Asian Games titles.
World No. 1 An Se-young defeated Chen Yufei 2-0 (21-5, 21-12) in the women's singles semifinal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held on the 28th at Ichinomiya General Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. She needed only 38 minutes to finish the match.

The first game was the very definition of domination. From the moment play began, An produced an astonishing display of form, rattling off nine straight points and completely shattering Chen's composure. Whenever Chen managed to claw back a single point, An responded with a barrage of three to five points. Faced with An's dazzling attack and her impenetrable, wall-like defense, Chen had virtually no answers.
There was no mercy from An in the second game either. After scoring five straight points from a 6-6 tie to extinguish her opponent's hopes of a comeback, An swept up the remaining points from 16-12 to complete a thrilling straight-games victory.

Chen Yufei was once An Se-young's nemesis. But that is a thing of the past. Since losing to Chen in the World Championships semifinal last August, An has won five consecutive head-to-head matches, establishing a clear order between them. She now leads their overall record 18-14. Her official record this year is an astonishing 55-1, giving her a 98.2% winning percentage. It would not be an exaggeration to say she has transcended the human realm and entered the realm of the gods.
If she wins the singles gold medal at these Games after doing so at the Hangzhou Asian Games, An Se-young will become a legend as the first women's singles player in Asian Games history to win consecutive titles.
Her opponent in the final will be the winner of the match between China's Wang Zhiyi, ranked No. 2, and Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, ranked No. 3. Whoever advances appears to have far too few answers to stop An Se-young in her current form.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter