(Asiad) S. Korea loses to Japan, settles for bronze in women's badminton team title defense
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea lost to Japan in the semifinals of the women's badminton team event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, settling for bronze in its gold medal defense.
After losing the opening match, Japan won the next matches in a row to knock off South Korea 3-1 at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, just northwest of the main host city, Nagoya, Japan.
With no third-place match, South Korea and Indonesia, the other semifinal loser, both received bronze medals.
An Se-young of South Korea returns a shot to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan during their singles match in the women's badminton team event at the Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, Japan, on Sept. 23, 2026. (Yonhap)
South Korea's lone match win against Japan came in the opening singles, where world No. 1 An Se-young defeated her longtime rival Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 21-11).
However, Baek Hana and Lee So-hee, world No. 2 in the women's doubles, dropped their match against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 2-0 (21-15, 21-19). Baek and Lee had also lost their match in the quarterfinals against Malaysia.
Sim Yu-jin lost the next singles match to Tomoka Miyazaki by 2-0 (21-15, 21-14), before Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong fell to Rin Uesaka and Kie Nakanishi 2-0 (22-20, 21-16) in what ended up being the last doubles match.
The individual competition in badminton will begin Friday in the men's and women's singles and doubles and in the mixed doubles.
An is trying to become the first women's singles player to win back-to-back Asian Games gold medals.
Lee So-hee (L) and Baek Hana of South Korea play against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto of Japan during their doubles match in the women's badminton team event at the Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, Japan, on Sept. 23, 2026. (Yonhap)
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