[Nagoya AG] Ahn Seyoung Makes History Again... First-Ever Back-to-Back Women's Singles Golds at the Asian Games

A 2-0 Sweep Over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan

Two Gold Medals for Korean Badminton on the Final Day

'Queen of Badminton' Ahn Se-young has made history once again, becoming the first-ever player to win back-to-back gold medals in women's singles badminton at the Asian Games.

On September 29, at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Ahn Se-young defeated Japan's world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, securing her second consecutive gold medal following the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

Ahn Se-young is holding the Taegeukgi flag and celebrating after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games badminton event held on the 29th at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

Ahn Se-young is the first athlete ever to win two consecutive gold medals in women's singles badminton at the Asian Games. In the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Games, which was held in 2023, she claimed the gold medal after defeating China's Chen Yufei 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 21-8). This marked the first gold medal for a Korean women's singles player in 29 years, after Bang Soo-hyun at the 1994 Hiroshima Games.

Ahn Se-young has now achieved her ninth consecutive victory against Yamaguchi, bringing her overall record in their matchups to 23 wins and 15 losses.

Ahn's strength in the latter stages of the first game was on full display. Until she tied the score at 8-8, Yamaguchi held the lead by 1 to 3 points. After the midway point, Ahn started taking control, but the game remained close, with the score tied again at 16-16. However, Ahn scored three points in a row from 18-17, closing out the first game.

The second game was dominated by Ahn. She opened with four consecutive points. Although Yamaguchi appeared to regain the momentum by scoring five straight points herself, Ahn immediately responded with eight consecutive points, pulling ahead 12-5 and seizing control of the match.

After that, Ahn gradually widened the gap. Following a lengthy rally against Yamaguchi, she was first to reach 20 points. The match ended in somewhat anticlimactic fashion when Yamaguchi's serve went beyond the end line. Upon realizing Yamaguchi's serve had missed the line, Ahn raised both arms in celebration and roared in triumph. The match lasted only 46 minutes.

Ahn Se-young is roaring after securing the gold medal by defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games badminton event held at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 29th. Photo by Yonhap News.

On the final day of badminton competition, South Korea added two more gold medals, finishing the tournament with two gold and three bronze medals. This result equals the two golds won at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, but is two silver medals fewer than that previous performance, which saw the team bring home two silvers and three bronzes.

Earlier in the day, the world's No. 2 women's doubles team of Lee Sohee and Baek Hana defeated China's world No. 1 duo Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in a dramatic 1-hour-51-minute match, coming from behind to win 2-1 (26-28, 21-17, 21-17) and claim the gold medal.

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