Just five days after capturing a gold medal at the Asian Games, badminton world number one An Se-young returned to the court on October 4, 2026, at the Jeju Complex Gymnasium, defeating Seo Bo-hyun 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) in the women’s general division team quarterfinals at the 107th National Sports Festival.
National Sports Festival Return in Jeju
Competing for Samsung Life, An Se-young secured her first practical match action of the tournament. She had been named to the roster the previous day for the round of 16 against the Daejeon Metropolitan Badminton Association on October 3, but did not take the court because Samsung Life swept the first two singles matches and one doubles match to clinch a 3-0 victory.
In the quarterfinals against MG Saemaul Geumgo, An was deployed in the second singles match. She took the opening game 21-16 before closing out the second 21-10 to wrap up the win. Samsung Life ultimately swept the tie 3-0 through victories in the first singles, second singles, and first doubles matches to advance to the semifinals.
Scoring Comparison With World Number Two Wang Zhiyi
Reporting on the match details, sports media noted that Seo Bo-hyun managed to score a total of 26 points across the two games against the world number one. That total exceeds the number of points recorded by China’s Wang Zhiyi, the world number two, during her most recent encounter against An.
At the finals of the 2026 Uber Cup (World Women’s Team Badminton Championships) held in Horsens, Denmark, in May, An faced Wang in the opening singles match and won 2-0 (21-10, 21-13). In that meeting, Wang was limited to 23 points across two games, failing to secure a single tie and dropping the match in 46 minutes. While tournament contexts and match dynamics differ, Seo accumulated three more points against An than the world’s second-ranked singles player did in their international championship meeting, even as live broadcasts showed An easing through sections of the Jeju contest.
An arrived in Jeju directly from Japan following her run at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Summer Asian Games. On September 29, 2026, at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, she defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, ranked third globally, 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in the women’s singles final to claim her second Asian Games title.
Upcoming BWF World Tour Schedule in Europe
Following the conclusion of her matches at the National Sports Festival, An is scheduled to travel to Europe. She will return to international competition at the BWF World Tour Denmark Open (Super 750), which opens on October 13, 2026.
Worth a look
