WANG Zhiyi (pic) of China hopes to rediscover the form that won her the Asian Championships as she takes on South Korea’s An Se-young in the quarter-finals at the Axiata Arena today.
The 22-year-old Zhiyi defeated Taiwanese Pai Yu-po 21-13, 21-10 in the second round yesterday to earn the right for a showdown with Se-young, who overcame Goh Jin Wei 21-10, 21-12 in another second-round match.
Zhiyi does not have a good record playing against the 20-year-old Korean as she has suffered three losses out of four meetings.
World No. 8 Zhiyi went down fighting to world No. 4 Se-young in the Canada Open final and the second round of the Korean Masters in 2019.
She then suffered another defeat in the World Championships in 2021 before beating Se-young in the Asian meet semi-final last year to advance to the final, where she lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi to clinch the silver.
Although the odds are stacked against her, Zhiyi is looking forward to clashing against Se-young.
“I’m quite excited for tomorrow’s (today’s) match because we’re in the same age group,” said Zhiyi.
“She may be younger but she started her sports journey earlier than I did.
“It has been more than half a year since we last played against each other and I believe we’ve improved in terms of our skills and performance level, so I’ll be well-prepared for the match,” she said.
Zhiyi admitted that she was struggling to regain her form after losing to Taiwanese Chen Su-yu in the Uber Cup Finals last year.
The defeat had affected her mental strength, which resulted in her crashing out in the early rounds of many tournaments.
“The Uber Cup loss hit me hard and it took some time for me to adjust my condition,” she said.
“Compared to China’s top players, Chen Yufei and He Bingjiao, I’m still lagging behind as I’m not as mature and stable as them, so there were ups and downs in my performance.
“But I’m gaining experience and improving as I compete in championships,” added Zhiyi.
