South Korea Takes Asian Games Bronze After Japan Ends Badminton Team Title Defense

South Korea’s defense of the Asian Games women’s badminton team title ended in the semifinals on Wednesday, when Japan completed a 3-1 victory at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Japan.

The result left South Korea with a bronze medal because the tournament does not stage a third-place playoff. Indonesia, which lost the other semifinal, also received bronze.

South Korea began the tie strongly through An Se-young, the world’s top-ranked women’s singles player. An defeated longtime rival Akane Yamaguchi in three games, winning 21-9, 18-21, 21-11. Her victory gave the defending champion an early advantage, but Japan responded by sweeping the next three matches.

In the first doubles contest, South Korea’s Baek Hana and Lee So-hee lost to Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in straight games, 21-15, 21-19. Baek and Lee, ranked No. 2 in the world in women’s doubles, had also been beaten during South Korea’s quarterfinal tie against Malaysia.

Japan then moved ahead when Tomoka Miyazaki defeated Sim Yu-jin 21-15, 21-14 in the second singles match. The tie was decided in the following doubles encounter, as Rin Uesaka and Kie Nakanishi overcame Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong 22-20, 21-16. The tight opening game gave the South Korean pair a chance to extend the semifinal, but Japan closed it out before controlling the second game.

The defeat denied South Korea an opportunity to repeat as women’s team champion and put Japan into the gold-medal match. For South Korea, attention now turns to the individual badminton program, which begins Friday with men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

An will enter the women’s singles competition seeking another major milestone. She is attempting to become the first player to win consecutive Asian Games gold medals in women’s singles. Her semifinal performance against Yamaguchi showed that she remains a leading contender even as the team campaign ended short of the final.

The bronze adds to South Korea’s medal tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, but the sequence of three straight defeats after An’s opening win underlined Japan’s strength across both singles and doubles. South Korea will have an opportunity to respond when the individual events begin.