Asian Games 2023: South Korea’s An Se-young wins badminton gold to deny China’s Chen Yufei as both limp off court
- World No 1 An hurts her knee during first game and receives medical treatment before staging remarkable comeback to win gruelling final
- Silver medallist Chen says 90-minute match left her with blisters on feet and cramp in her legs, but she is ‘still very happy’ with her efforts
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Badminton world number one An Se-young beat China’s Chen Yufei in a gruelling final to win Asian Games gold on Saturday and add another title to her stunning breakout year.
The South Korean won the first game 21-18 in a close fight in Hangzhou that sent both players diving to the ground to return shots.
Top-ranked An hurt her knee during the first game and was attended to by doctors.
The scrape seemed to break her momentum in the second game, which Olympic champion Chen won 21-17.
The South Korean staged a remarkable comeback in the third, crushing her opponent 21-8 despite most of the audience cheering for the Chinese player.
An emotional An embraced her coaches after her victory, with both players limping off court.
In an incredible 2023, the 21-year-old An has risen to No 1 for the first time and now won 10 titles, including the world championship.
“No matter what, I worked hard to play this match well and I didn’t overthink it,” An said.
Silver medallist Chen said the 90-minute match had left her with blisters on her feet and cramp in her legs.
“I’m still very happy because the silver medal is still something I worked hard to earn,” she said, adding that she had “a lot to learn” from An.
The home crowd still had plenty to celebrate as Li Shifeng beat fellow Chinese player Shi Yuqi to win the men’s singles title.
Li defeated former world silver-medallist Shi 23-21, 21-13 and celebrated by ripping off his shirt and performing a backflip.
The teammates were neck-and-neck throughout the first game before Li pulled away in the second.
In the men’s doubles final, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy made badminton history for India.
They defeated South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho 21-18, 21-16.
In the mixed doubles final, China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeated Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-14 in 47 minutes.
“This match was stressful for me, but the crowd kept supporting us and gave us a lot of strength,” Huang said.
