An Se-young, Fresh Start... 'I am the Queen of Shuttlecock' [Paris Olympics]

‘Queen of Shuttlecock’ An Se-young (Samsung Life) has made a strong start toward the gold medal.

An Se-young

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World No. 1 An Se-young defeated world No. 74 Kobiyana Nalbantova (Bulgaria) 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) in the first group stage match of the women's singles badminton event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held on the 28th (local time) at the Porte de la Chapelle arena in Paris, France.

The women's singles preliminary round is structured with groups of three players each, and the top player from each group advances to the round of 16. As the No. 1 seed, An Se-young is scheduled to receive a bye into the round of 16. She is likely to face Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals. In her first Olympic appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Games, An Se-young was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Chen Yufei (China).

An Se-young made many unforced errors during the match and appeared visibly frustrated throughout. In a post-match interview, she said, "I was very nervous and struggled a lot. I am embarrassed that I could only show about 70% of my ability," adding, "I will work to improve gradually." She continued, "I think the pressure is getting to me," and shared, "My coach said my expression looked very bad and told me, 'Go onto the court and just play. Smile and enjoy it.'"

Standing on the Olympic stage for the first time in three years, she seemed overwhelmed with mixed emotions. Her eyes were moist, and her voice trembled. "I don’t know what this feeling is. It feels like I’m sinking. I hope this becomes a positive stimulus. This is just the beginning. I will show you many good performances, so please give me more attention and support."

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