The Korean women's badminton team defeated Malaysia to advance to the semifinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games team event. Aiming for their second consecutive title, Korea will face Japan in the next round.
Under the guidance of coach Park Joo-bong, the Korean team triumphed over Malaysia with a match score of 3-1 in the quarterfinals held on September 22 at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. They are set to compete against Japan, who advanced after defeating India, for a spot in the finals.
World No. 1 An Se-young (Samsung Life) got the team off to a strong start, easily defeating world No. 28 Lechana Karupathevan 2-0 (21-12, 21-8). An took control from the beginning, widening the score gap without facing significant challenges. Although she fell behind 0-3 early in the second game, she quickly regained her momentum, scoring consecutively from 4-4 and finishing the match with solid defense and offense in just 36 minutes.
The second match saw a brief setback for Korea. The women's doubles team of world No. 2 Baek Hana and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) lost to the world No. 5 pair of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan 0-2 (20-22, 17-21). Despite leading in the middle of the match, they allowed a late comeback, losing the first game in deuce at 20-20 and failing to regain their rhythm in the second game, leveling the match score at 1-1.
Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life) put Korea back in the lead, defeating world No. 38 Wong Ling Ching 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) in the third singles match. After comfortably winning the first game, she held off her opponent's challenge in the second game, securing Korea's second victory.
The decisive match was clinched by the duo of Kim Hye-jung (Samsung Life) and Jeong Na-eun (Incheon International Airport), who achieved a comeback victory against their Malaysian opponents in the fourth doubles match, winning 2-1 (18-21, 21-11, 24-22). After dropping the first game, they leveled the score with a 21-11 win in the second. In the final game, they turned the tide from an 8-11 deficit, scoring six consecutive points. Although the match went to deuce, they closed it out at 24-22, securing Korea's place in the semifinals.
Korea won the gold medal in the women's team event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and is now aiming for a second consecutive championship in this tournament.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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