▲ Badminton player An Se-young
Ahead of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, South Korean badminton ace An Se-young has showcased her overwhelming skills, moving one step closer to another golden smash for two consecutive weeks.
An secured her spot in the final of the women's singles at the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour China Masters, held at the Shenzhen Arena in China, by defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, ranked No. 3 in the world, 2-0 in just 43 minutes.
With this victory, An extended her head-to-head record against Yamaguchi to 21 wins and 15 losses, while reaffirming her dominance by stretching her winning streak against her opponent to seven matches.
Having made a comeback last month after about a month of injury rehabilitation and achieving a "flawless victory" without dropping a single game at the World Championships, An showed no gaps in this tournament either.
From the Round of 32 to the semifinals, she has not dropped a single game, wrapping up each match in around 40 minutes to manage her stamina perfectly while accelerating toward her second straight title.
Left with just one more win to achieve her third consecutive victory at this tournament following 2024 and 2025, An will clash for the championship trophy against the winner of the match between China's Wang Zhiyi, ranked No. 2 in the world, and Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki, ranked No. 9.
An played a cautious probing game in the early part of the first game on this day.
However, tied at 6-6, she used her signature tenacious defense to induce errors from Yamaguchi, scoring 5 consecutive points to seize the initiative at 11-6 before entering the interval.
Even afterward, with flawless performance that completely tied Yamaguchi down, she steadily widened the gap and comfortably wrapped up the first game 21-13.
In the second game, An was equally dominant.
Taking control by sweeping 6 consecutive points right from the start, she did not allow a single meaningful chase afterward.
When Yamaguchi's attack caught the net to give An a 20-14 match point, she drove a sharp cross-court smash into the court to put the finishing touch on a sweeping victory.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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