In the women’s singles draw, Olympic champion An Seyoung came back from a game down to beat 19-year-old Miyazaki Tomoka 16-21, 21-9, 21-6. This is the world No.1’s first tournament since finishing as runner-up at her home Korea Open in September.
After sharing their split of the first 12 points, Miyazaki burst into life with five consecutive points to stun An. She made two challenges, both unsuccessfully, as her Japanese opponent piled on the pressure and won a superb opening game.
After the changeover, Olympic champion An entered a new gear and started to play more aggressively to force errors out of the 19-year-old. It was a strategy that paid off, Miyazaki winning less points in the next two games than she managed in the first.
Once An had taken control of the second game, it was only going one way as she dominated affairs, neutralising any threat from Miyazaki to come from behind and book her semi-final spot. The Paris 2024 gold medallist awaits either fourth seed Yamaguchi Akane or Chiu Pin-Chian in the next round of the competition.