Malaysia Masters: An Se Young Breaks a Barrier
When the barrier fell, the floodgates opened. An Se Young, having failed in seven previous matches to beat Chen Yu Fei, finally succeeded in the final of the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2022. Victory came in the…
· DEV SUKUMAR
When the barrier fell, the floodgates opened. An Se Young, having failed in seven previous matches to beat Chen Yu Fei, finally succeeded in the final of the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2022. Victory came in the unlikeliest fashion in the second game, with the Korean handing the Olympic champion not just a defeat but a rout. Chen, who got only five points in the second game, fell to one of her most one-sided defeats in recent times.
The rivalry between the two has simmered over the last few years. Four of their seven contests had gone three games, and their last, in the Uber Cup final in May, was an epic, with Chen saving three match points and winning in 91 minutes.
Aware that a high pace was to Chen’s liking, An wove a soft web, opening up for the harder shots only when she’d worked out a window. At the net she showed fine touch, getting the shuttle to die off the tape time and again. Chen struggled to catch up, and after the Korean had edged her in the opening game, the Olympic champion fell apart. An, who’d made a few errors in the opening game, barely made any in the second. It was a precise, finely-paced performance, unrelenting in pressure, giving Chen nothing to work with.