Suwon: An Se-young eased into the second round at the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour event on home soil Wednesday. An, the reigning Olympic women's singles champion, defeated Karupathevan Letshanaa of Malaysia 2-0 (21-14, 21-9) to begin her Korea Open at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul.

According to Yonhap News Agency, An needed just 36 minutes to win her round of 32 match. She found herself down 8-6 in the first game before grabbing six straight points and had an even easier time in the second game. In the round of 16, An will face Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei.

An has won seven tournaments on the BWF World Tour so far this season, including the prestigious All England Open. The South Korean star settled for the bronze medal in her title defense at the world championships in Paris in August, but bounced back to capture her second straight China Masters title last week. The world No. 1 will be the favorite to claim her third career Korea Open title, following back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023.

In men's doubles, the top-ranked duo of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho defeated a team of fellow South Korean Choi Sol-gyu and Malaysian Goh V Shem 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) in the round of 32. Seo and Kim did not trail in the first game. They were tied with their opponents at 4-4 in the second game but pulled ahead to 10-4 en route to a 38-minute victory.

Seo and Kim, who combined for the world title in Paris, are going for their eighth international victory of the season. In the round of 16, the South Koreans will go up against the Japanese team of Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita.