[Edaily Starin Lee Seok-Moo Reporter] Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life), dubbed “the world’s best,” became the first player in Asian Games badminton women’s singles history to win back-to-back titles.

On the 29th, at the Ichinomiya Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in the women’s singles final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to claim the gold medal.

With this victory, Ahn Se-young has claimed the Asian title for the second consecutive tournament. At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023, she won two gold medals in women’s singles and women’s team events. Prior to Ahn Se-young, no player in the history of the Asian Games had ever won the women’s singles title in two consecutive tournaments.

Furthermore, Ahn Se-young achieved a “perfect victory” by not dropping a single game from the round of 32 through the final. Previously, she wrapped up her round-of-32 match in 20 minutes, her round-of-16 match in 35 minutes, and her quarterfinal against world No. 5 Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) in just 35 minutes.

Even her semifinal match against Chen Yufei—her “arch-rival” who had once inflicted the humiliation of seven consecutive losses and brought her to tears—took only 40 minutes. It was a complete 180-degree turnaround from the Hangzhou tournament final, where she had defeated Chen Yufei after a fierce battle while receiving ice packs on the court. This shows just how much Ahn Se-young’s standing has grown compared to that time.

Ahn Se-young’s dominance continued in the final. She took the first game 21–17 to seize the initiative. In the second game, she allowed Yamaguchi to score only single-digit points, defeating her 21–9 to clinch the match with a 2–0 game score.

Ahn Se-young carried her momentum—having lost only once in 57 matches this season—into the Asian Games. Even Yamaguchi, the host nation Japan’s star player, was unable to prevent Ahn Se-young from retaining her title. With this victory, she also extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to nine consecutive matches.

She also made up for the disappointment of the women’s team event. Ahn Se-young had previously defeated Yamaguchi in the team semifinals against Japan, but South Korea lost the overall series 1-3 and had to settle for the bronze medal. In the individual event, however, she held her ground until the very end to claim another gold medal.

Right now, Ahn Se-young has no rivals. Her only opponent is herself. As long as she remains injury-free and in top physical condition, defeat is not in Ahn Se-young’s vocabulary. Given her current overwhelming momentum, the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics are also expected to be her “one-woman show.”