"An Se-young, same 11 wins but this year is even more remarkable" — Foreign media take note of historic achievement... Dominates World Championships and Asian Games for a "historic season"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

South Korea's badminton "queen," An Se-young (Samsung Life), reached the top of the Korea Open, achieving the historic feat of 11 wins in a single season for the second consecutive year. Foreign media assessed that while the number of wins is identical to last year at 11, this year's victories carry even greater value. This is because she swept all three major tournaments: the World Championships, the Asian Games, and the Asian Championships.

World No. 1 An Se-young defeated World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 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, South Jeolla Province, to claim the title.

With this victory, An Se-young successfully reclaimed the top spot at the Korea Open for the first time in three years since 2023. Adding her first title in 2022, this marks her third overall victory at the tournament. She also shed the regret of finishing as runner-up last year after losing to Yamaguchi 0-2 in the final.

In particular, with this win, An Se-young set a historic record by becoming the first player in badminton history to achieve 11 wins in a single season for two consecutive years. She once again tied the single-season 11-win record set by Japan's Momo-ta Kento in 2019 and her own record achieved last year.

Foreign media also took note of An Se-young's historic achievement. Hong Kong media outlet HK01 reported, "An Se-young remains invincible. She defeated Yamaguchi to secure her 11th win of the season."

The outlet emphasized, "This year's victory holds even greater value."

What the media highlighted was not merely the number of wins, but the significance of the tournaments she dominated. HK01 stated, "While the 11th wins are equal to the record set by Momo-ta in 2019 and tied by An Se-young last year," it emphasized, "However, this year's 11 championship trophies for An Se-young include victories at three major events: the World Championships, the Asian Games, and the Asian Championships."

It further explained, "Therefore, the 11th wins achieved by An Se-young this year can be assessed as holding even greater value."

Japanese badminton legend Momo-ta achieved 11 wins in a single season in 2019, including victories at the World Championships and Asian Championships. However, the Asian Games were not held that year.

In contrast, An Se-young dominated the women's singles event at the Asian Games this year, following her victories at the World Championships and Asian Championships. HK01 also assessed that these achievements further elevated the value of her 11 wins this year.

Indeed, An Se-young's performance this season has been overwhelming. She started on a high note by consecutively winning the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) and India Open (Super 750) in late January.

Although she finished as runner-up after losing to Wang Zhiyi (China) in the All England Open final in March, she continued a fierce upward trend thereafter. Starting with the Asian Championships in April, she consecutively claimed the top spot at the Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, World Championships, China Masters, and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

In October, she won the Denmark Open and France Open, adding this Korea Open victory to reach her 11th title of the season.

An Se-young achieved 11 wins last year by winning the BWF World Tour Finals, the final tournament of the season in December. However, this year, she reached 11 wins as early as early November. Given that the season has not yet ended, there remains a possibility of extending her record further.

An Se-young's statistics for this season are also remarkable. In the 72nd matches played this year, she recorded an impressive 71 wins with only one loss. Her win rate reaches 98.6%.

Since losing to Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March, she has been on a 55-match winning streak. She also achieved an 11-match winning streak against Yamaguchi, extending her head-to-head record to 25 wins and 15 losses.

Of course, the process of achieving such results was not easy. HK01 noted, "An Se-young handled team events in addition to individual ones at the Asian Games and Uber Cup," adding, "Having claimed 10 championship trophies in a single year, it was inevitable that both her body and mind would be exhausted."

The outlet also introduced the fact that An Se-young had considered withdrawing from the Korea Open due to fatigue. It pointed out, "In this situation, it is fully understandable that she tried not to participate in the Super 500-level Korea Open."

However, An Se-young ultimately took to the court once again in front of her home fans and claimed the victory.

The final opponent was no pushover. It was Yamaguchi, World No. 2 and a long-time rival. On that day, An Se-young engaged in a tense battle up to 9-9 in the first game but then took control. In particular, she scored seven consecutive points from 12-10 to pull ahead 19-10, eventually taking the first game 21-12.

However, in the second game, she struggled against Yamaguchi's counterattack. She conceded four points in a row early on and fell behind 8-12. An Se-young later chased to 14-16 but failed to reverse the score gap, losing the second game 15-21.

In the final third game, she demonstrated focus again. An Se-young led 6-2 early and reached the interval at 11-9. She then utilized the court widely to pressure Yamaguchi. She also induced errors from her opponent to seize the momentum.

Ultimately, An Se-young won the final game 21-16 to secure the championship. She succeeded in avenging her defeat one year later against Yamaguchi, who had beaten her in the final of the same tournament last year.

HK01 reported, "An Se-young chose to play in front of her home fans and claimed victory once again," adding, "She played a total of 72 matches this season and lost only once."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original