Badminton player An Se-young becomes world champion for the second time
South Korean badminton player An Se-young won her second career world championship title, defeating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles final. In the decisive match of the BWF World Championships in New Delhi, the world No. 1 won 21:17, 21:14, reports the Korea Herald.
Six victories without dropping a game
An Se-young went through the entire tournament without losing a single game, claiming six wins from the first round to the final. She regained the world title she first won in 2023. The World Championships were not held in 2024, as it was an Olympic year, when the Korean athlete won a gold medal in Paris. Last year, she finished the world championship with bronze after losing in the semifinals.
An Se-young remains the only South Korean player to have won a world championship title in men’s or women’s singles. Her victory over Yamaguchi was her sixth consecutive win in their head-to-head meetings. The overall record between the players now stands at 20:15 in favor of the Korean.
How the final unfolded
In the first game, neither badminton player held a lead of more than three points. At 15:12, An Se-young allowed her opponent to move ahead 16:15, but Yamaguchi did not lead again afterward. At 17:17, the Korean scored four consecutive points to close out the game 21:17.
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At the start of the second game, Yamaguchi led 4:2, but An Se-young seized the initiative and later pulled ahead to 11:7. The Japanese badminton player reduced the deficit, but her errors helped her opponent extend the lead to 16:11. At 17:13, the Korean won a long rally with a precise drop shot and then scored the final three points of the match.
For An Se-young, this was her first tournament since withdrawing from the Japan Open last month due to a left foot injury. Before traveling to India, she told South Korean media that she still felt pain but would be able to compete.
Another title for South Korea
In women’s doubles, Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee defeated China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning 21:15, 21:15. They became the second South Korean pair to win the World Championships and the first since 1995. In men’s doubles, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho failed to defend their title, losing in the semifinals to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
