Ahn Seyoung Regains World Championship Title After 3 Years... Shakes Off Injury Concerns and Sets Sights on Second Straight Asian Games Gold

A dominant 2-0 victory over Akane Yamaguchi in the final

Lee Sohee and Baek Hana capture women's doubles title after 31 years

'Queen of Shuttlecock' An Seyoung, 24, reclaimed the women's singles world championship title after three years by defeating Yamaguchi Akane of Japan.

On August 23 (Korea time), An Seyoung overpowered Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) in the women's singles final at the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, India.

An Seyoung, who became the first Korean female singles player to win a gold medal at the World Championships in 2023, once again reached the top of the world after three years, earning her second career World Championships title.

With this win, An Seyoung completely dispelled concerns about her recent injury. Last month, after winning her first-round match at the Japan Open, she complained of pain in her left foot. She ended up withdrawing from the Japan Open and also skipped the subsequent China Open to focus on rehabilitation. Returning to the international stage after about a month, An Seyoung showcased dominating form in this tournament, not dropping a single game, raising expectations for a gold medal at the upcoming Asian Games, which is less than a month away.

On the 23rd (Korea time), An Se-young roared after securing her victory at the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships women's singles final held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, India, defeating Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) to claim the title for the first time in three years. Photo by AP News.

In the final against Yamaguchi, An Seyoung was locked in a close battle, drawing level three times before the first set interval. Although An Seyoung appeared to take control by scoring three consecutive points to lead 12-12, Yamaguchi responded with four points in a row to seize her first one-point lead.

But An Seyoung remained composed. She immediately reclaimed the lead with two consecutive points and, at 17-17, secured the momentum by scoring three more points in a row. Subsequently, after a video review determined that Yamaguchi's shot was out of bounds, An Seyoung won the first set 21-17.

An Seyoung got off to a shaky start in the second set by conceding three straight points. However, she quickly turned things around. With the score tied at 7-7, she scored four consecutive points to take command of the match. Leading 16-12, An Seyoung scored with a superb drop shot after a long rally, putting a stop to Yamaguchi's hopes of a comeback.

At match point, 20-14, An Seyoung confirmed Yamaguchi's shot landed out of bounds, then raised her arms in triumph, savoring the joy of victory.

With this win, An Seyoung extended her winning streak over Yamaguchi to six matches, cementing her dominance in the head-to-head encounters. In the semifinals, she had earlier defeated Wang Zhiyi of China, ranked third in the world, 2-0 (24-22, 21-16) in a deuce battle.

After consecutively overcoming top players from China and Japan at the World Championships, An Seyoung will next aim to become the first Korean badminton singles player to win back-to-back gold medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which open next month.

An Seyoung claimed the women's singles gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (held in 2023) by defeating China's Chen Yufei. She became the second Korean to win an Asian Games singles gold in 29 years, after Bang Soo-hyun in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.

Meanwhile, South Korea also added a gold medal in the women's doubles at this tournament.

The women's doubles team of Lee Sohee and Baek Hana, ranked third in the world, defeated the world's top-ranked pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning from China 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) in the women's doubles final to claim the championship.

Lee Sohee and Baek Hana became the first Korean women's doubles team to win a World Championships title in 31 years, since Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ok at the 1995 Lausanne, Switzerland tournament. With this victory, Lee Sohee and Baek Hana also broke a four-match losing streak against Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.

Previously, Lee Sohee had partnered with Shin Seungchan to win bronze and silver medals at the 2014 and 2021 World Championships, respectively. This time, she finally clinched the gold with Baek Hana, ending her quest for the top podium.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.