An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) moved closer to a second straight All England Open title, the most prestigious tournament in badminton.

Women's singles world No. 1 An Se-young defeated Chen Yufei (China·No. 3) 2-1(20-22 21-9 21-12) in the semifinals of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 All England Open at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on the 8th. With this win, An moved ahead in her head-to-head with Chen, once her ‘nemesis’, to 15-14.

After narrowly dropping the opening game in deuce, An seized control by reeling off seven straight points from 9-8 in game two. In the decisive third game, after 1-1, she never allowed a single chase, delivering a flawless performance. She had the edge not only in skill but also in stamina and focus. The match finished after 1 hour 13 minutes.

An extended her winning streak in international competitions to ‘36’. Since last October's Denmark Open, she has been on an unbeaten run. She now aims for her third career crown at this event and the first-ever ‘back-to-back All England Open titles’ by a Korean singles player. While legendary doubles stars such as Park Joo-bong, Chung Myung-hee, and Gil Young-ah have achieved consecutive titles here, no Korean singles player has ever stayed on the top of the podium for two straight years.

An will face Wang Zhiyi (China·No. 2) in the final.

Meanwhile, the women's doubles duo of Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee (both Incheon International Airport), ranked world No. 4, also advanced to the All England Open final, raising hopes of a double victory. They defeated the pair of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan (Malaysia·No. 2) 2-0(21-17 21-18) in the semifinals.

The two, who once reigned at world No. 1 for 12 consecutive weeks, faltered for a time with only one title last year, at the Super 750 Denmark Open, but have recently returned with formidable momentum. After bouncing back by winning a second straight title at the World Tour Finals, the ‘champion-of-champions’ event, at the end of last year, they have stayed consistently near the top this year with a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Open and third place at the India Open.

If they win this tournament, Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee will wear All England Open gold medals around their necks for the first time in three years since 2024.

The men's doubles world No. 1 pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho (both Samsung Life Insurance) also reached the semifinals and are preparing for the ‘golden smash’.They will face the Indonesian pair of Raymond Indra and Nikolaus Joaquin (No. 17) for a place in the final.