An Se-young wins China Masters, boosts Asian Games title defense hopes

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shuttler An Se-young on Sunday won her final tournament before the upcoming Asian Games, further brightening her prospects of defending the women's singles title at the continental event.

An, world No. 1, defeated Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan 21-17, 21-6 in the women's singles final at the China Masters at Shenzhen Arena in Shenzhen, China.

An, who needed just 45 minutes against the ninth-ranked Japanese, did not drop a game in her five matches en route to her third consecutive China Masters title.

An also won her second career world title in August and will be riding some big momentum into the Asian Games in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi. The competition will begin with the women's team event on Sept. 20, as An and her teammates will try to defend their gold medal. The women's singles competition starts on Sept. 25, with An widely regarded as the favorite to win her second consecutive gold. The women's singles final is set for Sept. 29.

No South Korean badminton player, female or male, has won back-to-back Asian Games gold medals.

In Sunday's final, Miyazaki put up a good fight early in the opening game. She never trailed by more than two points until An went up 13-10.

From there, An scored two straight points on a couple of errant returns by Miyazaki. The Japanese player got to within 18-15 but An closed out the game 21-17, getting the final point with a smash that Miyazaki failed to return.

An won the first eight points of the second game, with her opponent looking more overwhelmed as the match progressed.

After Miyazaki finally got her first point to make it 8-1, An scored three unanswered points to turn the match into a blowout.

Miyazaki never got close and An finished the victory on a 6-1 run.

An improved to 8-0 all time against Miyazaki.