"Unrivaled Skill, Shocking"... An Se-young on the Path to Becoming a 'Legend'

[Anchor]

An Se-young has become the first player in history to win the Asian Games women's singles title twice. She is already regarded as the greatest player in the history of women's badminton.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.

[Reporter]

Legends of women's singles—such as Indonesia's Susi Susanti, hailed as the greatest player of the 1990s; China's Zhang Ning, who achieved back-to-back Olympic titles in the 2000s; and Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying, who held the world number one spot for 214 weeks—all failed to maintain a long reign at the Asian Games.

Far from winning back-to-back titles, not a single player had managed to reach the top twice, with 16 different champions crowned across the past 16 editions of the tournament.

This is why An Se-young's back-to-back Asian Games titles stand as another dazzling achievement that will be remembered long in world badminton history.

[An Se-young / National Badminton Team : I am so proud to keep writing such records, but at the same time, there is still so much I need to do. I still think I am young, so I am looking forward to what I can achieve in the future.]

Featuring her trademark airtight defense rated the best in history, alongside elevated sharp attacking power and seasoned game management, the year 2026 is being recorded as an 'immortal season' that no one can rival for An Se-young.

Riding a recent 40-match winning streak, she has suffered just a single defeat out of 57 matches this season, boasting a 98.2% win rate that easily surpasses the all-time record win rate of 94.8% for both men's and women's singles that she set last year.

After sweeping 11 tournaments last season to tie the record for the most wins in a single season for men's and women's singles, An Se-young has already claimed the top spot 8 times this season. With more than 5 tournaments expected ahead, she is also heavily favored to set a new all-time record for most wins.

Opponents are left shaking their heads as the saying goes, "Whoever faces An Se-young the latest in the bracket takes the silver medal."

[Yamaguchi Akane / Japanese National Team (Final Opponent) : If you ask what part of her game is exceptional, it is honestly every aspect. While we cannot just say there is nothing we can do as athletes, right now, I feel like I can only say there is nothing we can do.]

Reacting to An Se-young's decisive victory against their national player, local Japanese media reported with reactions calling her skill "unrivaled" and "shocking."

(Camera: Park Hyun-chul, Yang Doo-won | Video Editing: Park Ki-duk)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.