An Se-young, the world’s top-ranked badminton player from Samsung Life, secured her spot in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by winning both of her matches on the same day without dropping a game.
On September 26, at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, An defeated Ranithma Tinudhi Weihenage of Sri Lanka, ranked 142nd in the world, 2-0 (21-9, 21-10) in the women’s singles round of 16.
Earlier, she had easily dispatched Kazakhstan’s Kamila Smagulova, ranked 426th, 2-0 (21-5, 21-5) in the round of 32. After a brief break of about seven hours, An returned to the court to complete her round of 16 match.
Typically, players compete in one match per day at international tournaments. However, due to the team event extending over five days, the individual events were condensed into five days, requiring players to compete in two matches on some days.
An overcame concerns about physical fatigue with her performance, finishing the round of 32 in just 20 minutes and the round of 16 in 35 minutes, maintaining an impressive win rate of 98.1% (53 wins, 1 loss) for the season.
Having won both the team and singles events at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, An is now aiming for a historic back-to-back title in women’s singles. In the previous team event, she and her teammates fell short against Japan, earning a bronze medal.
In doubles, three pairs advanced to the quarterfinals. The men’s doubles team of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, both from Samsung Life and ranked first in the world, defeated Aaron Chia and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia, ranked 217th, 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in the round of 16.
Another men’s doubles pair, Kim Min-hyeok from Samsung Life and Ki Dong-joo from Incheon International Airport, also advanced by defeating Wesley Koh and Goh Jun-suke of Singapore in 38 minutes, 2-0.
The women’s doubles team of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, ranked second in the world and both from Incheon International Airport, triumphed over Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia, ranked 11th, in a hard-fought match lasting 1 hour and 23 minutes, winning 2-1 (21-16, 15-21, 21-9).
South Korean badminton is seeking its first gold medal in both men’s and women’s doubles since the 2002 Busan Games.
In contrast, Kim Ga-eun from Samsung Life faced world number two Wang Zhi-yi of China in the round of 16, losing the first game and retiring due to a thigh injury in the middle of the second game.
The women’s doubles team of Kim Hye-jung and Lee Yeon-woo, also from Samsung Life, won the first game against the world’s top-ranked pair of Liu Shengsu and Tan Ning from China but ultimately lost 2-1 (21-19, 9-21, 18-21).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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