Korea Badminton 'best performance in 22 years' and Ahn Se-young 'three gold medals' from men's doubles and mixed doubles.

*This content was translated by AI.

Korean badminton players at the 2026 Asian Badminton Championship won three gold medals (one silver and one bronze), the highest in 22 years.

In this competition, which ended in Ningbo, China on the 12th, Ahn Se-young, Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae (Samsung Life Insurance), and Kim Jae-hyun (Yonex) and Jang Ha-jeong (Incheon International Airport) were on top of the podium. Among the five events, Korean athletes won gold medals in the rest of the events except for men's singles and women's doubles.

It is the first time in 22 years that Korean badminton has won more than three gold medals in this competition since the 2004 competition, when Jeon Jae-yeon (women's singles), Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won (women's doubles), and Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min (mixed doubles) were at the top of the podium.

Ahn Se-young, the "world No. 1," topped the women's singles by beating the world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of China 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 21-18).

Ahn Se-young, who lost to Wang Zhi in the final of the Jeon Young Open last month and missed the championship, also achieved a Grand Slam by avenging Wang Zhi, who faced Wang Zhi on the final stage again in a month.

Ahn Se-young won the world championship, the Asian Games, and the Olympics earlier, and achieved the youngest grand slam through the last remaining Asian championship gold medal.

In addition to the Jeon Young Open and the World Tour, the so-called "Career Grand Slam" was named by Ahn Se-young as the first player in women's singles.

It is the first time in 12 years that a Korean player has won the women's singles title at the tournament since Sung Ji-hyun in 2014.

Shim Yu-jin (Incheon International Airport), who failed to cross Ahn Se-young's wall in the semifinals, also won the bronze medal, and two South Korean players rose to the podium in the women's singles at the tournament.

In addition to the women's singles, Kim Jae-hyun and Jang Ha-jung, who are ranked 147th in the world, also won the lucky gold medal in mixed doubles and stood atop the podium.

Kim Jae-hyun and Jang Ha-jung, who reached the final by beating strong teams one after another, won the gold medal when the final opponent, the Thai group, withdrew due to injury.

In the men's doubles, which the Korean players faced in the final, the world's No. 1 Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae beat the group Kang Min-hyuk (national sports unit) and Ki Dong-ju (Incheon International Airport) 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) to win the gold medal.

It is the first time in 13 years that South Korea won the gold medal in the mixed doubles at the Asian Championships since the 2013 Ko Sung-hyun and Kim Ha-na groups, and the men's doubles gold medal has been in 10 years since the 2016 Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong groups.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.