Just 180 Minutes to the Gold Medal... "I'll Enjoy Being the 'GOAT' Today"

[Anchor]

World-renowned South Korean badminton star An Se-young has achieved back-to-back Asian Games titles, a feat never accomplished by anyone before. Smiling brightly, An said that she wants to have "a glass of beer" for today alone.

Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the story from the scene.

[Reporter]

In the final against world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi, An Se-young conceded the early momentum in the first game to Yamaguchi's quick attacks.

An did not trail for long.

She continuously floated the shuttlecock to the corners of the court, making Yamaguchi run endlessly to drain her stamina, and easily turned the tide with sharp smashes whenever an opening appeared.

After taking the first game 21–17, An grew even stronger in the early stages of the second game after getting hit in the face by the shuttlecock while enduring Yamaguchi's fierce counterattack.

Even when Yamaguchi unleashed a series of smashes, An easily returned them all, gently pushing the shuttlecock into open spaces on the court to leave Yamaguchi in despair.

When Yamaguchi's final attack went out, confirming a 2–0 victory, An celebrated her historic consecutive Asian Games championships with her trademark roar.

[An Se-young / National Badminton Team Member at the Asian Games: It is truly crazy. The feeling is crazy, too. The taste of victory feels even better every time you experience it, so I think it makes me want to keep doing it again and again.]

Completing a "flawless victory" without dropping a single game while playing a total of just 180 minutes across all five matches of the tournament, An smiled brightly and hugged her parents who visited the stadium, saying that she feels she really is the greatest player of all time for today at least.

[An Se-young / National Badminton Team Member at the Asian Games: Today, I will enjoy being called the GOAT. Honestly, I haven't had a single glass of namak-biru (draft beer) since coming to Japan. I'm going to enjoy a happy party with my family.]

No one could stop her.

An proved her qualification as the greatest player in history, putting a spectacular finale to this tournament.

▶ Phenomenal '98% Win Rate'... An Se-young Rewriting History

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video by Yang Doo-won, Video Editing by Lee Jae-sung, Design by Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.