LONDON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea rallied from one game down to defeat China's Chen Yufei, reaching the women's singles final at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.
The match marked their first meeting of the year, with the two players having split their previous 28 encounters at 14 wins each.
Tokyo Olympic champion Chen took the opening game 22-20, but An, who later captured Olympic gold in Paris in 2024, controlled the next two games 21-9, 21-12 to seal victory.
"She has strong dominance on the court, but is very humble off the court," Chen said of her opponent. "She has achieved so much, yet always strives to win more and make more history. That is what I truly admire about her."
An will face another Chinese shuttler Wang Zhiyi in Sunday's final. Wang advanced after beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in straight games.
In the men's singles, second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand was upset by unseeded Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 18-21, 21-16. Lin will take on India's Lakshya Sen, who edged Canada's Victor Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in the other semifinal.
Women's doubles top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China battled for 90 minutes to defeat teammates Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian 18-21, 21-17, 22-20 to meet South Korea's Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee in the final.
Another Chinese pair Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui, mixed doubles defending champions, went down to Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France 11-21, 21-18, 21-12. The French duo will face Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei in the final.
The men's doubles final will feature South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae against Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. ■
