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09/29 03:13 CDT An Se-young of South Korea repeats Asian Games gold in
badminton. Adds to Olympic, world titles
An Se-young of South Korea repeats Asian Games gold in badminton. Adds to
Olympic, world titles
By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer
NAGOYA, Japan (AP) --- An Se-young is the world's No. 1-ranked female badminton
player, and she proved it again on Tuesday.
The South Korean star defeated three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of
Japan 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) to take gold at the Asian Games.
An has now swept the board of big titles: Paris Olympic gold medalist, two-time
world champion, and now two-time Asian Games champion.
An dropped to her knees after winning, did a deep backbend and looked skyward
to celebrate.
"It feels like a dream," she said. "I am so happy and I'm overwhelmed with
emotion as I think back to all the hard work I've put in."
An repeatedly used the entire court to keep Yamaguchi chasing.
"I decided to approach the match with the aim of making my opponent feel rushed
and forcing her to move around a lot."
This is the badminton that's widely popular across Asia --- not the one of
family picnics and backyard barbecues. It's lightning quick and knitted
together by long rallies, chest-first dives and leaping overheads,
An defeated Chen Yufei in the semifinals for her fifth straight victory over
her Chinese rival.
An has also stirred things up. After winning in Paris two years ago, she said
the national training staff forced her to play through a knee injury. She also
said the national team's training methods were outdated.
She threatened to play independently, but backed down from that.
A shortage of feathers It does not affect play at this level, but the price of shuttlecock has soared recently and forced officials to look for synthetic alternatives. China is the top producer of shuttlecocks, but poultry production there has decreased in recent years --- partly due to bird flu --- leading to a shortage or goose or duck feathers to make the traditional shuttlecocks. That's led to a short supply and soaring prices. The Badminton World Federation earlier this year approved the use of synthetic shuttlecocks in lower-level tournament. Players say the speed and rotation of the synthetic model is different from the traditional equipment. "This initiative forms part of BWF's long?term approach to evaluating synthetic feather shuttlecocks for potential use at the elite level," the BWF said in a statement earlier this year. ___ SNTV video journalist Nicky Zhu contributed to this report. ___ See full AP coverage of Asian sports here
A shortage of feathers It does not affect play at this level, but the price of shuttlecock has soared recently and forced officials to look for synthetic alternatives. China is the top producer of shuttlecocks, but poultry production there has decreased in recent years --- partly due to bird flu --- leading to a shortage or goose or duck feathers to make the traditional shuttlecocks. That's led to a short supply and soaring prices. The Badminton World Federation earlier this year approved the use of synthetic shuttlecocks in lower-level tournament. Players say the speed and rotation of the synthetic model is different from the traditional equipment. "This initiative forms part of BWF's long?term approach to evaluating synthetic feather shuttlecocks for potential use at the elite level," the BWF said in a statement earlier this year. ___ SNTV video journalist Nicky Zhu contributed to this report. ___ See full AP coverage of Asian sports here
