An Se-young of Samsung Life Insurance, the world's top-ranked women's singles player, has reached another final, putting her ninth title of the season within reach.
An defeated Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, ranked 11th, 2-0 (21-16, 21-8) in the women's singles semifinal of the Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 750 Denmark Open in Odense on the 17th, Korea time. The match lasted just 36 minutes.
An's run at the tournament has been one of complete dominance. She has finished every match within 40 minutes, from the first round of the last 32 through the semifinal. With her physical exertion kept to a minimum, she heads into the final under far less strain.
The semifinal was one-sided throughout. After briefly trailing 5-6 early in the first game, An scored three straight points to take the lead and never allowed Okuhara back into contention. She closed out the second game by holding her opponent to just eight points.
In the final, An will face Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, ranked third, who advanced by beating China's Wang Zhiyi, the world No. 2, 2-0 in the other semifinal.
An holds the clear edge on paper. She has won her last nine matches against Yamaguchi, including a victory at last month's Asian Games, where she became the first woman to win back-to-back singles titles at the event.
An's season has already entered record territory. She is 60-1 in 61 matches this year, a win rate of 98.4%. Excluding the All England Open, where she finished runner-up, she has topped the podium at seven of the eight individual tournaments she has entered. A win in the final would be her ninth title of the season.
In men's doubles, the world's top-ranked pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, both of Samsung Life Insurance, failed to reach the final. They lost to Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 0-2 (14-21, 18-21) in a semifinal that lasted 38 minutes.