'55-match winning streak jackpot' An Se-young finally writes world-first history! 'G.O.A.T' record-breaking performance → Now challenges for badminton's most titles record

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'Badminton Queen' An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) claimed the top spot at the Korea Open held on home soil, achieving the great feat of winning 11 tournaments for two consecutive years for the first time in world badminton history.

World No. 1 An Se-young defeated World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) in a closely contested match lasting one hour and two minutes, with a set score of 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 21-16), in the women's singles final of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Korea Open (Super 500) held on the 8th at Jinnam Gymnasium in Yeosu.

With this, An Se-young successfully reclaimed the top spot at the Korea Open for the first time in three years since 2023. Including her first title in 2022, she has become the champion of this tournament for the third time overall.

In particular, An Se-young had lost to Yamaguchi in the final of this tournament last year, settling for second place. However, this time she successfully took complete revenge. Additionally, she recorded an 11-match winning streak against Yamaguchi. An Se-young holds a lead in their overall head-to-head record with 25 wins and 15 losses in 40 matches.

With this victory, An Se-young secured her 11th championship trophy of the season. Last year, An Se-young dominated 11 tournaments, tying the single-season most titles record set by Japan's Kento Momota in men's singles in 2019. And by reproducing the same achievement this year, she built a golden tower as the first in world badminton history to achieve '11 wins in a season for two consecutive years.' It can be called a performance worthy of being called the 'G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time).'

An Se-young's 2026 campaign is truly unbelievable. After starting the season by consecutively dominating the Malaysia Open and India Open, An Se-young reached the top of the Asian Championships in April last month. She then swept the Indonesia Open and Singapore Open, and hung a gold medal around her neck at the World Championships in August. In September, she won the women's singles at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, achieving a two-peat following the 2022 Hangzhou Games. It was a moment when a player achieved a first-ever two-peat in the Asian Games in Korean badminton women's singles.

The momentum did not stop there. After the China Masters, she consecutively dominated the Denmark Open and France Open, achieving five consecutive international tournament victories. And by conquering the Korea Open this time, she continued her upward trend.

An Se-young is marking an overwhelming winning percentage of 98.6% with 71 wins and 1 loss in the 72nd matches played this season. Her winning streak, which began after losing to Wang Zhiyi (China) in the final of the All England Open (Super 1000) last March, has extended to 55 matches. She is on a six-consecutive international tournament winning streak starting from the World Championships in August.

On this day, An Se-young took the first game and seemed to easily secure the victory. In the first game, after a tense early exchange of 9-9, she successfully scored seven consecutive points from 12-10. Ultimately, An Se-young won the first game 21-12.

However, Yamaguchi's counterattack began in the second game. An Se-young committed frequent errors and fell behind 8-12, and although she attempted a comeback after the mid-game, her concentration wavered at the end, resulting in a 15-21 loss.

And then the final third game. Based on powerful smashes and intelligent play using the wide court, An Se-young took the lead by scoring five consecutive points. In the middle of the game, she was even chased to within one point at 10-9 due to Yamaguchi's fierce pursuit. However, that was as far as it went. An Se-young successfully scored six consecutive points to pull away 16-9. She completely crushed Yamaguchi's will to chase and ultimately secured a 21-16 victory.

Meanwhile, An Se-young will challenge for her 12th championship of the season at the BWF World Tour Finals, a 'champion of champions' event, to be held in Hangzhou, China, in early December. If she dominates the Finals as well, she will surpass Kento Momota's record and set a new single-season most titles record.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original