Badminton sensation Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open. Other doubles pairs also cruised.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young of South Korea defeated 27th-ranked Hsieh Wen-chih of Chinese Taipei 2-0 (21-19 21-11) in the round of 16 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France, on July 7 (KST) to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ahn raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first game before an error allowed her to tie the score at 9-9. She went into the mid-game break trailing 9-11 and kept it close from there. At 19-19, Xu Wenqi's drive hit the net to give Ahn the game point. A high clear landed in the corner of the opponent's court to give Ahn the first game.
With an 11-7 lead in game two and a return point, Ahn used the court wide to exhaust her opponent's stamina. Her opponent's unforced errors increased and the score gap widened. Ahn closed out the match with ease.
It was Ahn's fifth win against Xu Wenqi, 안전놀이터 who had won four of their previous five meetings.
Her quarterfinal opponent will be world No. 6 He Bingjiao (CHN). Ahn holds a 6-4 head-to-head advantage.
Ahn's competitors are also in the quarterfinals. World No. 2 CHEN Yu-fei (CHN), No. 3 TAI Chu-ying (TAIW), and No. 4 YAMAGUCHI Akane (JPN) advanced to the quarterfinals with ease.
It will be interesting to see if Ahn can make it to the top of the draw. After withdrawing from the quarterfinals of the Indian Open in January due to a thigh injury, she has been working hard on her treatment and rehabilitation. After the French Open, Ahn will try to win back-to-back titles at the All-England Open next week.
Korea's doubles teams also continued to cruise.
Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk in men's doubles, Lee So-hee and Baek Hana in women's doubles, Kim Hye-jung and Jung Nae-eun in mixed doubles, and Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung and Kim Won-ho and Jung Nae-eun in mixed doubles all reached the quarterfinals.