Ahn Se-young Achieves Historic Grand Slam: How She Defeated Wang Zhi to Win the 2026 Asian Badminton Championships
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| An Se-young / Photo=DB |
[Sports Today staff writer Lee Sang-pil] World No. 1 An Se-young completed a career Grand Slam.
On April 12 (KST), An defeated No. 2 Wang Ziyi of China 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 21-18) in the women’s singles final on Court 1 at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center to win the 2026 Asian Badminton Championships.
An had already claimed Olympic gold (Paris 2024), the World Championships (2023) and the Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022), but the Asian Championships title had eluded her — bronze in 2022, silver in 2023, a quarterfinal exit in 2024 and a withdrawal last year due to injury.
This year she finally captured the Asian title, completing the career Grand Slam and becoming the first Korean woman to achieve the feat.
She also avenged her loss to Wang in last month’s All England final and extended her head-to-head advantage to 19-5.
An seized control early. The first game was close at the outset, but An pulled away as Wang made several unforced errors, and An closed out the opener 21-12.
Wang answered in the second game, taking advantage of an early lapse by An to build a lead. An pushed to stay in it, but Wang held firm and took game two 21-17.
In the deciding game, An jumped out to a fast start and built a sizable lead as Wang showed signs of fatigue, stretching the score to 9-3. Wang fought back, narrowing the gap and eventually tying it at 15-15.
An kept her composure. She ripped off four straight points to go up 19-15. Wang cut the margin to one, but a forced error gave An the final point, and she closed the match 21-18 to secure the gold.
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| Kim Won-ho – Seo Seung-jae / Photo=DB |
In the men’s doubles final that followed, world No. 1 duo Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-joo (No. 22) 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) to claim the title.
In mixed doubles, Kim Jae-hyeon and Jang Ha-jung were awarded the championship after their final opponents, Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran, withdrew with an injury, giving the Korean pair the title by walkover.
[Sports Today staff writer Lee Sang-pil sports@stoo.com]
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