World No 4 Se-young stunned world No 2 Chen Yufei 21-12, 19-21, 21-9 in the 2023 Malaysia Open semifinals at the Axiata Arena today.

After both shuttlers won a game each, the 20-year-old Se-young got the deciding game off to a cracker as she shot into an 8-0 lead, leaving last year’s runner-up Yufei shell-shocked, en route to her fourth Super 1000 tournament final.

It was only Se-young’s second win over the Tokyo Olympic champion in 10 meetings, with her last win also coming at the same venue during the women’s singles final of the 2022 Malaysia Masters, a Super 500 tournament, last July.

The buoyant Se-young aims to emulate the feat achieved by her idol, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, who won the title last year but skipped this year’s tournament due to an injury.