South Korea's Ahn Se-young defeated China's Chen Yufei, ranked third in the world, 2-1 (21-18 17-21 21-8) in the women's singles badminton final at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on Sunday.

For Ahn, it was an unlucky match. She injured her knee in game one and her movement was drastically reduced after that.

She was unable to utilize the diagonal attacks and jump smashes that she had enjoyed so much this year.

She was forced to sit back and block Chen Yufei's attacks, hoping to force her opponent into mistakes or use her own attacks to win the game.

It was definitely a match that didn't go her way, but she managed to get the result in the end. Ahn used her mental toughness and determination to get the better of Chen Yufei.

After the match, Ahn said, "I don't know if it could be more meaningful. I'm grateful that I was able to finish well, and I'm really happy. My knee was hurting a lot, but luckily I was able to walk. There might be another one, but this might be the last time I play (in the final). I don't think this time will come again, so I wanted to hold on to it," she said after her victory.

Ahn's gold medal victory at the Asian Games had the drama of a movie or soap opera. Five years ago, Ahn was one of many badminton hopefuls. She joined the national team as a high school student and curiously tried out for the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, but suffered a heartbreaking 0-2 loss in the first round of the women's singles (round of 32) against Chinese Taipei's Chen Yufei. 온라인카지노

At the time, Ahn's opponent, Chen Yufei, was in the process of establishing herself as a badminton queen by rising to prominence on the World Badminton Federation (BWF) World Tour, and has since become one of the best players in the sport, winning a silver medal in the women's singles at the Jakarta Games and a gold medal in the women's singles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Five years later, Ahn and Chen Yufei would meet once again on the Asian Games stage, this time in the final. Although they had met many times before in various international competitions, the symbolism of the Asian Games and the fact that the best players representing their respective countries would meet in the final drew the attention of many fans.

Ahn Se-young was no match for Chen Yuefei, as she responded perfectly to the countless drops of sweat and hard work that she had put in over the years, and defeated him to put the pain of five years ago behind her.

Chen Yufei walked into the post-match press conference and talked about Ahn Se-young.

"In the past, I won a lot, and I think I won because she was much younger and less developed (as a player). There was a lot of competition between us, and then (Ahn) kept growing.

Sports is fun when you have to win and lose," he said, looking back fondly on Ahn's growth.

Ahn also reflected on her heartbreak five years ago and how far she's come since then. "I learned a lot then (in Jakarta).

I think it was a time I have no regrets, and although it was really hard, I'm happy that I overcame it because I kept my head down and stayed in place," she smiled.

Going forward, Ahn will be fighting to keep her throne and Chen Yufei will be fighting to take it back. The battle for the top spot is just beginning.