ICHINOMIYA, Japan - Japan's Akane Yamaguchi took women's badminton silver Tuesday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after South Korea's world No. 1, An Se Young, proved too strong in the final, winning 21-17, 21-9.
The 24-year-old An, the reigning Olympic and world champion, claimed back-to-back Asian Games titles, running away with the second game after holding off Yamaguchi in a closely fought first game.
World No. 3 Yamaguchi was looking to avenge losses to the South Korean star in the world championship final in August, as well as in the Asian Games women's team semifinals last week.
Yamaguchi, 29, was also aiming to win Japan's first Asian Games gold medal in the event since 1998.
But the reigning champion continued a banner day for South Korea at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, where compatriots Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee earlier won women's doubles gold.
Yamaguchi, who claimed her first Asian Games singles silver medal, said the quality of the tournament had been world class.
"We see in the women's event that all first- to fourth-ranked players were in the semifinals," she said. "This was a valuable experience, and we all played to our best."
The gold-medal match marked her ninth straight loss to An, a player whose "strengths are obviously everywhere," according to the former world champion.
"At the beginning of these nine straight losses, I thought initially that there is a big gap and I was kind of lost as to what I can do better," Yamaguchi said.
"But more recently, I'm starting to think of a breakthrough and changing my strategy. I would like to nail down those findings so that I can win against her again."
