Two years is not a short period of time. During that period, An Se-young finished every tournament she participated in without a title.
The last time the Korean athlete won was at home at the 2019 Korea Masters, which took place in Gwangju on November 19-24. In the final, An Se-young defeated her senior, Sung Ji-hyun, in straight games 21-13, 21-17. That year, apart from the 2019 Korea Masters, she also won the French Open, Akita Masters, Canada Open, and New Zealand Open.
Unfortunately, she failed to win multiple times in the following year. In 2020, An Se-young's best achievement was the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters in January. There was a chance for her to end her thirst for titles when she reached the finals of the Denmark Open 2021. However, in the final, she was defeated by Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a rubber game 21-18, 23-25, 5-16. The third game was discontinued due to An Se-young's injury.
But at the Indonesia Masters 2021, she again reached the final. She also faced her formidable foe, Akane Yamaguchi just yesterday in Bali (11/21/2021). As if to avenge her loss at the Denmark Open, An Se-young finally defeated Yamaguchi who was seeded in first place in two straight games 17-21, 19-21. This victory also made their meeting record draw to 4-4.
For Japan, Akane Yamaguchi's defeat was the only defeat for Japan's representatives in the final round of the Indonesia Masters 2021. In the other three categories, Japan succeeded in placing its representatives as champions.
In the men's singles, Kento Momota, who is seeded in the first place, took just 49 minutes to become champion by beating Anders Antonsen, the third seed from Denmark, with a score of 21-17, 21-11. This is the sixth victory from seven meetings and also an avenge to the defeat in the 2019 Indonesia Masters final as well as Momota’s first title in 2021. Previously, Kento Momota, who is ranked first in the world, failed successively at the All England, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Denmark Open, and the French Open.
The Japanese pair Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, who were unseeded in the men's doubles, defeated Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya, who also happens to be the first seed, in a rubber game 21-11,17-21, 21-19. Amazingly, the result on the Island of the Gods, the nickname of Bali, was Hoki/Kobayashi’s first victory after losing in ten meetings.
In the women's doubles, the pair Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida, who was seeded in fourth place, beat Korean representatives Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong 21-9, 21-11.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, Thailand’s own Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai defeated Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet from Hong Kong 21-11, 21-12.
Congratulations to all the athletes who won the tournament! There’s still more to go in Bali until next month, so stay tuned.
