An Se-young claimed the badminton women’s singles gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 29, defeating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 2-0 at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The victory marks the first time a South Korean singles player, male or female, has secured consecutive titles in tournament history, and establishes An as the first woman to achieve back-to-back Asian Games singles gold medals since the sport joined the program in 1962.
Championship Match Breakdown Against Yamaguchi
World No. 1 An faced early pressure in the opening game, dropping behind 7-5 against the third-ranked Yamaguchi. After leveling the score, An built a 16-13 lead before Yamaguchi rallied back to 16-16. A decisive diagonal attack and endurance through a grueling rally exceeding 40 strokes allowed An to edge ahead 19-17, eventually closing the first game 21-17 with a precise backhand.
The second game turned after a 5-5 tie, when An rattled off six consecutive points to claim an 11-5 advantage at the mid-game interval. Unforced errors and defensive struggles from Yamaguchi widened the gap to 18-8, paving the way for An to seal the match 21-9 and complete the straight-games victory.
Unblemished Run Through the Individual Draw
An dominated the individual bracket from the 32nd round to the final without dropping a single game. Her path included a 2-0 (21-8, 21-9) victory over Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the quarterfinals and a 38-minute 2-0 (21-5, 21-12) semifinal win against China’s Chen Yufei.
The triumph lifts An’s official match record across individual and team competitions this season to 56 wins against just one loss, capturing her 10th title of the year. Three years prior at the Hangzhou Asian Games, An secured gold despite suffering a knee injury during the first game of the final against Chen Yufei.
South Korea’s Badminton Medal Haul in Ichinomiya
South Korea’s success at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium extended beyond the singles final. Earlier in the day, the women’s doubles pair of Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee defeated world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China 2-1 to claim the country’s first Asian Games women’s doubles gold medal in 24 years, bringing South Korea’s daily badminton gold tally to two.
In the women’s team competition, South Korea earned a bronze medal after falling 3-1 to Japan in the semifinals.
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