▲ An Se-young
Badminton world number one An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), who has returned to the court after shaking off an injury in about a month, secured a comfortable victory in her opening match at the World Championships.
World number one in women's singles An Se-young comfortably defeated 40th-ranked Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria 2-0 (21-14, 21-13) in the women's singles Round of 64 at the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships held today in New Delhi, India, advancing to the Round of 32.
An Se-young, who temporarily halted her winning streak after experiencing pain in the outer part of her left foot at the Japan Open last month, subsequently postponed her international tournament appearances and concentrated on rehabilitation.
As it was her first competitive stage in about a month, she showed a somewhat slow start in the early part of the first game, but soon regained her signature match sense.
An Se-young seemed to struggle while trading close points up to 9-9 early in the first game, but immediately rattled off six consecutive points to pull ahead 15-9 and easily seize the initiative.
In the second game as well, she succeeded in scoring five consecutive points from a tight 11-11 tie, effectively sealing the match.
The World Championships, running through August 23, is the most prestigious and honorable stage in badminton alongside the Summer Olympics.
Having set a milestone by becoming the first South Korean singles player to win at the 2023 Copenhagen tournament, and following 2024 when the event was not held due to the Olympics, she won a bronze medal at the Paris tournament last year after losing to Chen Yufei of China in the semifinals.
An Se-young is aiming to recapture the top spot for the first time in three years through this tournament.
Meanwhile, world number 12 Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance), who also competed in the women's singles, easily defeated Egypt's Nour Ahmed Youssri (ranked 128th) 2-0 (21-7, 21-5) in just 23 minutes to join her in the Round of 32.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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