Se-young is expected to win women’s singles gold, her unreal footwork that anticipates and processes opponents’ shots and gets under the shuttle, making her look unbeatable even in the presence of a 4-pronged challenge. This is posed by a quartet of blazing ambitions, albeit bruised and slowed by wear and tear in the form of Chen Yufei, Carolina Marin, Akane Yamaguchi and Tai Tzu Ying.

Se-young’s might look like a coronation, but seldom has a group of four fellow yellow metal contenders, possibly at their last Games, been this hungry and desperate to stake claim on being crowned greatest at the biggest finale for the golden generation. The Korean is a shining diamond though, and will take almighty work to be denied.

She’s 22, and quite ready to be annointed at the Olympics, just like Xuerui Li (2012 London, at 21), Carolina Marin (2016 Rio, at 23) and Chen Yufei (2021 Tokyo, at 23) were. Having won the World Championship in 2023, Se-young went on to make 11 finals out of 13 on a hot streak, winning 9 audacious titles on the circuit, before a screeching injury. Her first title had come beating her idol, Thai Ratchanok Intanon, at 16. And her most recent one, reminded Chen Yufei of just how difficult the Olympic title defense could be.

Chinese are giving an impression of being a tad bothered, despite the Korean spending long stretches, managing her injury that stems from the mileage she crisscrosses on court. Chinese coach Luo was quoted by CMG media as saying, “An Se-young is one of the main opponents for us. She may not be as aggressive as she used to be before suffering an injury at the Asian Games, but no one has 100-percent confidence in beating An in a women’s singles match, even after she slows down.” His worried brow furrowed from every word.

Yufei herself has happily passed on the pressure to the Korean, saying, “I think An reads the match better than before and better than I do,” Chen told CMG, not convinced about the injury tipping any scales. “She understands the sport well. She always chooses the right tactics and reads her opponent’s plays correctly. She knows exactly how to win the match.”

Yufei has consistently downplayed her own credentials, and though the Chinese can well feign this underdog facade, and step up in the nick of time for gold – like her at Tokyo, or Chen Long at Rio – she has struggled to win her first World title in the interim.

“I have been in my comfort zone since I won the women’s singles Olympic gold medal,” CMG quoted Yufei as saying. “I haven’t been able to achieve any major breakthrough since Tokyo. I have lost many matches by no more than two points. Those matches looked close and I seemed to be working hard, but I just couldn’t win. It had nothing to do with my stamina. I just lacked enough will to win.”

Yufei was vocal about a mental burnout due to the crazy Tour schedule, before she went off on military training while recovering from a foot injury. Her game relies on nailing the clutch points, and even at Tokyo it was after hanging on by a thread till 17-17 that she suddenly turned the final on its head, surprising Tai Tzu Ying.

There’s a Hindi saying whose literal translation is ‘mother has arrived’, but it certainly doesn’t mean that. It’s about suddenly being possessed by great energy, and Chen Yufei left Tzu Ying bewildered by how she nicked that pandemic time final in an empty arena. She was taken to 3 by Sindhu at the French venue, and Indians will merrily take a flipped result of that marathon. But Yufei is trained to go big at the Olympics by the Chinese, and is aiming to match Zhang Nang (gold at Athens and Beijing), in shuttle pantheons.