AN IN WAY OF CHINESE CHARGE

S. Korean world No. aims to beat Chen and deny China’s bid for event’s first clean sweep

- Ervin Ang

China's badminton players are aiming for a clean sweep of five titles at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open on June 2 - a first in the tournament's history if they manage to achieve the feat.

But not if South Korea's world No. 1 An Se-young can help it. The defending champion will be the toughest test for the Chinese juggernaut gunning for glory at the US$850,000 (S$1.15 million) tournament, and will play China's No. 2 Chen Yufei in the women's singles final.

The 22-year-old is on the comeback trail after suffering a right knee injury at the Asian Games, where she won a gold medal to add to her nine titles in 2023. Her form dipped drastically after that and she failed to win another tournament for the year.

At January's Malaysia Open, she declared herself "70 per cent recovered" and claimed her first trophy since her injury, following it up with the French Open title in March.