Badminton world number one An Seyoung appears unstoppable right now.
The Republic of Korea shuttler has lost just once on the BWF World Tour all season, and continued her winning ways at the BWF Japan Open 2025 on Thursday (17 July) by seeing off compatriot Kim Ga-eun in Tokyo.
She didn’t have it all her own way as Kim pushed her hard in the opening game of their women’s round of 16 encounter, leading at five different points, including at 20-19 with a game point. However, An saved it — one of three straight points as she converted her own game point to take the first game.
Kim also started brightly in the second, leading early on at 8-5. But An was relentless and took 16 of the last 20 points they played, dominating the exchanges to close out a 22-20, 21-12 victory in 41 minutes.
That sets up an exciting last eight clash against her predecessor as Olympic champion, Chen Yufei of People’s Republic of China, on Friday.
Chen is the only woman to have beaten An on the circuit this year, winning at the same quarter-final stage at the All England Open.
The Japan Open is available to stream on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the Olympics app from the quarter-finals onwards (geographical restrictions apply).