▲ South Korea's An Se-young plays against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi during the first singles match of the women's team semifinals in badminton at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 23rd.
World number one An Se-young, aiming for her second consecutive women's singles title—a first in Asian Games history—showcased stellar form by winning the highly anticipated "early final" against Japan in the women's team semifinals.
On the 23rd, An, the undisputed powerhouse in women's singles, stepped up as the first singles player in the semifinals of the badminton women's team event against Japan at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, soundly defeating world number three Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 21-11).
With this victory, An extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to eight consecutive matches, reconfirming her status as an unmatched leader with no rivals.
The two athletes frequently cross paths in the finals or semifinals of major international tournaments, but in this competition, they clashed early in the team semifinals, creating a fierce blockbuster match.
From the first game, An relentlessly pressured Yamaguchi with sharp attacks hitting every corner of the court.
Leading 4-3, she reeled off eight consecutive points to crush Yamaguchi's morale, easily closing out the first game with a 12-point margin while conceding only 9 points.
In the second game, An yielded the momentum as Yamaguchi mounted a fierce counterattack.
An doggedly pursued her opponent by returning shots with stable defense, but a few regrettable unforced errors at critical moments ultimately pushed the match into a third game.
In the final game, An's late-game resilience overwhelmed Yamaguchi.
Breaking a 4-4 tie by capturing six straight points to seize control, An leveraged her physical superiority to distance herself from Yamaguchi by a 10-point margin, bringing the lengthy match to a close.
For the national badminton team, which has set a target of 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 2 bronze medals at this tournament, the women's team event stands out as a strong gold-medal prospect.
An, who secured a double crown by winning both the women's team and singles events at the previous Hangzhou Games, is aiming for back-to-back team titles at this event as well.
Furthermore, carrying this momentum into the individual competition would allow her to achieve the historic milestone of becoming the first female singles player to win two consecutive Asian Games titles.
The badminton team event consists of three singles and two doubles matches, with the country that secures three wins out of five matches taking the victory.
With ace player An setting the stage with a perfect start against Japan, South Korea's second-position players, women's doubles world number two Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, are stepping up next.
Following them, singles world number 16 Sim Yu-jin, the doubles pair of Kim Hye-jeong and Kong Hee-yong (note: translating exact names based on text), and singles player Kim Ga-ram are standing by in sequence.
If South Korea defeats Japan and advances to the finals, they will clash with the winner of the Indonesia-China match for the gold medal.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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