BWF World Tour Finals 2024: An Seyoung, Han Yue into women’s semis, Yamaguchi Akane out on tie-break

World No. 1 An Seyoung squeezed into the women’s singles last four of the BWF World Tour Finals with a 21-11, 21-15 win against Han Yue in Group B on Friday (13 December).

The Paris 2024 Olympic badminton women’s singles gold medallist will be joined in the semi-finals by Han, who, despite defeat on this day, progressed as group runner-up to the delight of the crowd in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China.

Former world No. 1 Yamaguchi Akane saved three match points to defeat Supanida Katethong 13-21, 21-14, 25-23, but it would not be enough to send the 2022 champion through.

Yamaguchi missed out on games differential after she, An and Han finished group play all even at 2-1.

Yamaguchi’s Japanese compatriot Ohori Aya won Group A with a perfect 3-0 record after beating Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in straight sets 21-18, 21-15.

Last month, world No. 9 Ohori announced her retirement at season’s end and is playing the final competition of her career.

Second-ranked Wang Zhiyi will join Ohori in the semis following a 21-8, 21-16 win over Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in a winner-takes-all affair.

The World Tour Finals are available to watch live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app in selected territories.