An Se-young Overcomes Injury for "Flawless" Victory, Reclaims World Title After 3 Years

[Anchor]

Badminton player An Se-young has reclaimed the top spot at the World Championships for the first time in three years. She did not drop a single game from the round of 64 to the final.

Reporter Hong Seok-jun has the details.

[Reporter]

Playing in a tight match against defending champion and world number two Yamaguchi of Japan, An Se-young conceded a lead after a long rally when Yamaguchi's final shot was ruled in following a challenge.

An wore an expression of disbelief, but she did not let it shake her.

Tied 17-17, she pulled ahead again with her signature cross-court smash, and then won three consecutive points to secure the first game.

In the second game, she fended off her opponent's chase by landing well-timed smashes into the corners of the court. Later in the game, following a 33-shot rally, she widened the gap to 5 points with an exquisite drop shot, effectively sealing the momentum.

[Live Broadcast: Unbelievable! (Truly magnificent.) Just look at that final drop shot.]

Prompting an error from Yamaguchi to cap off a 2-0 victory in 49 minutes, An roared multiple times, relishing the joy of her second career World Championships title and reclaiming the throne after three years.

Returning to competition just a month after shaking off a left-foot injury, she displayed dominant form by not dropping a single game across six matches from the round of 64 to the final, raising expectations for her defense of the Asian Games title next month.

[An Se-young / National Badminton Team: I remember the defeat at the Paris World Championships last year. I vowed not to repeat the same mistake, and now I am the winner. I am happy.]

Women's doubles pair Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee also defeated powerhouse China to achieve a joint victory.

Built on solid defense, they thoroughly defeated their opponents in 51 minutes to experience the thrill of their first career title, marking the first time in 31 years since Gil Young-ah and Chang Hye-ock in 1995 that a South Korean women's doubles pair has reached the top.

(Video Editing: Park Jung-sam)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.