"The Japanese Archipelago in Shock": World No. 2 Suffers Stunning Defeat to An Se-young, "Even Her Sole Rival Cannot Beat Her... No One Can Defeat Her"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

As "Queen of Badminton" An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) reclaimed the throne of the Korea Open by building a golden tower with the unprecedented feat of winning 11 titles in a single season for two consecutive years, even her arch-rival Japan was left unable to hide its shock and sighs. When world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) also failed to overcome An's wall, local reactions ran as high as "There is now no player in the entire world who can stop An Se-young."

World ranking No. 1 An Se-young defeated ranking No. 2 Yamaguchi in a classic match lasting one hour and two minutes 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, South Jeolla Province, to claim the top spot with a set score of 2-1 (21-12 15-21 21-16).

With this, An Se-young secured her third Korea Open title overall, following back-to-back titles in the 2022 and 2023 tournaments. She perfectly repaid the regret of being defeated by Yamaguchi 0-2 in last year's final, doing so on home soil just one year later. With this victory, An Se-young extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to 11 consecutive matches, significantly widening their head-to-head record to 25 wins and 15 losses.

Most importantly, she wrote a new milestone with no precedent in badminton history. After sweeping 11 titles last year, An Se-young completed the great feat of winning 11 titles in a single season for two consecutive years, a first in badminton history. She once again stood shoulder to shoulder with the all-time record for most wins in a single season (11), set by Japan's men's singles legend Kento Momota in 2019. An Se-young, who has not lost even once since the All England Open in March last year and is on a 55-match winning streak, continued her astonishing record of 71 wins and 1 loss in 72 matches this season, with a win rate of 98.6%.

When news of the final was reported through Japanese media such as "Badminton Spirit" after the match, Japanese fans could not contain their surprise. Local fans expressed on platforms like "Yahoo Japan," saying, "Women's singles is An Se-young's complete solo stage," "Even Yamaguchi, the only rival who can stand against An Se-young, simply cannot beat her, so now no one in this world will be able to defeat An Se-young," and "An Se-young is truly too strong," leaving them speechless. They appeared completely overwhelmed by An's absolute skill, even as their country's top star Yamaguchi fought hard in the final but remained bound by a chain of 11 consecutive losses.

The final on this day was a fierce battle. In the first game, from a tense flow at 9-9, An Se-young led with sharp diagonal attacks to score seven consecutive points, easily seizing the initiative with a 21-12 lead. Although she lost the second set 15-21 due to Yamaguchi's fierce counterattack while cornered and bad luck at the net, in the decisive third game, she secured the winning momentum by scoring six consecutive points with iron-wall defense and sharp smashes. Ultimately, she clinched the championship by taking the final point for a 21-16 victory.

An Se-young, who has won six consecutive international tournaments recently, is aiming to set a new single-season record of 12 wins in one season—a first in history—at the BWF World Tour Finals, the "champion of champions" event, to be held next month in Hangzhou, China.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original