Nguyễn Thùy Linh faces a young Japanese star at the Korea Badminton Open

This promises to be a significant challenge on Nguyễn Thùy Linh’s journey to claim her first Super 300 title in her career.

Vietnam’s top badminton player - Nguyễn Thùy Linh brilliantly secured a spot in the semifinals of the Super 300 Korea Masters 2025 with a 2-0 victory over the local South Korean player Lee So-yul this afternoon on November 7, Hanoi time.

Thùy Linh’s opponent in the last four, the strongest player at this year’s Korea Masters, has quickly been revealed. It is Hina Akechi - a young Japanese player who defeated the rising Thai badminton star: Pitchamon Opatniputh after three highly exciting games.

Born in 2005, Hina Akechi is currently ranked outside the world’s top 50 and is Japan’s number 8 according to the BWF rankings. She is a left-handed player with a modest height of only 1.55m but compensates with skillfulness and agility in her playing style.

Having reached her career-best ranking of 40 earlier this year, Akechi has maintained good form and consistently advanced deep into tournaments this season. She reached the quarterfinals of the German Open - where Thùy Linh finished runner-up for two consecutive years, the quarterfinals of the Macau Open, was runner-up at the Victor Kaohsiung Masters, semifinalist at the Malaysia Super 100, and most recently quarterfinalist at the Indonesia Masters II.

Also this year, Akechi has defeated notable players such as former world number one Nozomi Okuhara, Line Christophersen, and Manami Suizu. She has won 7 titles at the International Challenge level; however, on the BWF World Tour, she has yet to claim a championship, despite reaching three finals.

The skillfulness, quickness, and youth of Hina Akechi are expected to pose many challenges for Nguyễn Thùy Linh - the second seed at the 2025 Korea Masters who is eager to win her first Super 300 level championship.

The match between Nguyễn Thùy Linh and Hina Akechi in the Korea Masters semifinals will take place at 10:40 AM on November 8, Vietnam time. The winner will face the top seed Chiu Pin-chian or Ni Pratiwi in the final.

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Nguyễn Thùy Linh reaches the semifinals of the Korea Badminton Open (Badminton results) - Second seed Nguyễn Thùy Linh impressively defeated the home player Lee So Yul to secure a place among the top four strongest players at the 2025 Korean Masters. See more