Back-to-back gold medals at Asian Games following Hangzhou triumph

Season record stands at 56 wins and 1 loss in 57 matches

An Se-young of South Korea celebrates after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday. An defended her title from the 2022 Hangzhou Games to claim back-to-back women's singles gold. [Yonhap]
An Se-young of South Korea celebrates after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday. An defended her title from the 2022 Hangzhou Games to claim back-to-back women's singles gold. [Yonhap]

Badminton world No. 1 An Se-young, 24, of Samsung Life Insurance became the first player in history to win back-to-back Asian Games women's singles titles.

An claimed gold Tuesday at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, defeating world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The reigning Hangzhou champion successfully defended her title from the 2022 Asian Games, becoming the first player to win the women's singles event at two consecutive Asian Games since badminton became an official sport at the 1962 Jakarta Games. It is also the first time a Korean player has won back-to-back titles in any singles event at the Asian Games.

An had already beaten Yamaguchi 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 21-11) as the opening singles player in the women's team semifinal earlier in the tournament. Her dominance carried over into the individual final. After trailing 7-8 early in the first game, she reeled off four consecutive points to lead 11-8 and seize control. Yamaguchi leveled at 16-16, but An held firm — unleashing sharp smashes and precise court placement to retake the initiative before finishing the game 21-17 with a deft drop shot into an open space at the net after a long rally.

The second game was even more one-sided. An surged to 12-5 with a string of consecutive points, pressing Yamaguchi with solid defense and side-to-side attacking play. With the outcome long settled, An clinched gold at 20-9 when Yamaguchi's shot sailed out of bounds.

An Se-young of South Korea waves the national flag in celebration after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday. An defended her title from the 2022 Hangzhou Games to claim back-to-back women's singles gold. [Yonhap]
An Se-young of South Korea waves the national flag in celebration after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday. An defended her title from the 2022 Hangzhou Games to claim back-to-back women's singles gold. [Yonhap]

An also extended her dominance over Yamaguchi. Heading into the women's team semifinal at this tournament, she held a 22-15 head-to-head record against the Japanese player, including eight straight wins. Tuesday's final victory pushed her career record against Yamaguchi to 23-15, with a nine-match winning streak.

An's season record now stands at 56 wins and 1 loss in 57 matches, a winning rate of approximately 98.2 percent. Her only defeat this year came in the All England Open final in March, when she lost to Wang Zhi Yi of China.

By defending her individual crown from Hangzhou, An set a new milestone as the first player to win back-to-back women's singles titles at the Asian Games.


yjc@heraldcorp.com