(Asiad) With 2nd straight gold, An Se-young cements case as greatest shuttler of her generation

This will let Google show Yonhap news articles that match or are related to your search

ICHINOMIYA, Japan, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- At 24 and still in her athletic prime, shuttler An Se-young has already accomplished more in the past couple of years than what many would take their entire career to achieve.

She won the world titles in 2023 and 2026, and also an Olympic gold in 2024. She has held the No. 1 ranking in the women's singles for over 100 weeks. In 2025, An won a record 11 international titles and became the first player in badminton history to earn over US$1 million in prize money in a season.

An Se-young of South Korea celebrates after winning gold in the women's singles badminton event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, Japan, on Sept. 29, 2026. (Yonhap)

The South Korean star etched her name in the record books once again Tuesday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in central Japan. By beating Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the women's singles final by 2-0 (21-17, 21-9), An became the first player to win back-to-back women's singles gold medals in the competition's history. The women's singles was first contested in 1962.

With her latest triumph, An further cemented her case as the greatest badminton player of her generation -- if not all time.

Despite the strong level of competition in Asia, An reached the top of the podium here with stunning ease.

The top four players in the women's singles world rankings all hail from Asia, with An trailed by Wang Zhiyi of China, Yamaguchi and Chen Yufei of China. All four of these players made the semifinals here, and at this year's world championships in August, An, Yamaguchi and Wang occupied the top three places -- with An beating Wang in the semifinals and then Yamaguchi in the final.

An did not drop a game en route to her world title then and accomplished the same feat this time.

An won her first match over Kamila Smagulova of Kazakhstan in 17 minutes. In the next round, An needed 32 minutes to dispatch Ranithma Liyanage of Sri Lanka. Her quarterfinal victory over Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand lasted 31 minutes.

It took An 38 minutes to eliminate Chen Yufei of China in the semifinals. The South Korean had her longest match of this competition in Tuesday's final, as she needed 49 minutes to take care of Yamaguchi.

The gold medal match, though, was more lopsided than the final score indicates, especially from the midway point of the first game and on. There were rallies when Yamaguchi appeared to be exerting her max effort, whereas An still won points while in cruise control.

The final featured all the traits that make An such an unstoppable force. She is a tenacious defender who can track down difficult shots, and she can run opponents into the ground in extended rallies thanks to her stamina, patience and superb court coverage.

An insisted afterward the match was not as easy as she made it seem, though she did not sound very convincing.

"Yamaguchi is a great defender, and she is really fast. I had to think long and hard about how to play her," An said. "But I tend to be mistake-prone when I think too much out there, and so I wanted to make quick decisions on the court today. It worked out well."

An Se-young of South Korea hits a return to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan during the women's singles badminton final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, Japan, on Sept. 29, 2026. (Yonhap)

jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)

Prince Harry to send congratulatory video message for S. Korean sports event for wounded veterans

(2nd LD) BTS sweeps 3 categories at MTV VMAs; BLACKPINK's Lisa wins Best Pop

(LEAD) Foreign ministry calls in Ukrainian envoy as Kyiv reveals transfer of N. Korean POWs

(URGENT) S. Korea wins gold in men's street skateboarding at Asian Games

(Asiad) S. Korea disqualified in men's 4x100m relay at Asian Games

(LEAD) (Asiad) N. Korea scoops 2 golds in weightlifting at Asian Games

No. of foreigners in S. Korea reaches 2.8 mln in Aug.

(3rd LD) Lee calls for resumption of trade pact negotiations with Mexico to elevate economic cooperation

(Asiad) With 2nd straight gold, An Se-young cements case as greatest shuttler of her generation

这将使谷歌能够向您展示与您的搜索匹配或相关的韩联社新闻文章。

日本市宫市，9月29日（韩联社）——年仅24岁，正值运动生涯巅峰期的羽毛球运动员安世荣，在过去几年里取得的成就，已经超过了许多人整个职业生涯所能取得的成就。

她在2023年和2026年获得世界冠军，并在2024年获得奥运会金牌。她曾连续100多周位居女子单打世界排名第一。2025年，安妍创纪录地赢得了11项国际赛事冠军，并成为羽毛球历史上首位单赛季奖金超过100万美元的球员。

2026年9月29日，韩国选手安世英在日本一宫市体育馆举行的爱知-名古屋亚运会女子单打羽毛球比赛中获得金牌后庆祝。（韩联社）

周二，在位于日本中部爱知县的名古屋亚运会上，韩国网球明星安瓿再次创造历史。她在女单决赛中以2比0（21-17，21-9）击败日本选手山口茜，成为亚运会历史上首位蝉联女单金牌的选手。女单项目于1962年首次设立。

凭借最近的胜利，安进一步巩固了她作为她这一代最伟大的羽毛球运动员的地位——即使不是有史以来最伟大的。

尽管亚洲的竞争非常激烈，但安却以惊人的轻松姿态登上了最高领奖台。

女子单打世界排名前四的选手全部来自亚洲，安智怡之后依次是中国的王志怡、山口智惠和陈雨菲。这四位选手都打进了本次比赛的半决赛。在今年八月的世界锦标赛上，安智怡、山口智惠和王志怡占据了前三名——安智怡在半决赛中击败王志怡，随后又在决赛中战胜山口智惠。

安在上次夺得世界冠军的征程中未失一局，这次她也取得了同样的成就。

安在首轮比赛中仅用时17分钟便战胜了哈萨克斯坦选手卡米拉·斯马古洛娃。下一轮，她又耗时32分钟击败了斯里兰卡选手拉尼特玛·利雅纳格。四分之一决赛中，她仅用时31分钟便战胜了泰国选手拉差诺·因达农。

安在半决赛中耗时38分钟淘汰了中国选手陈雨菲。这位韩国选手在周二的决赛中打出了本届比赛耗时最长的一场比赛，她用了49分钟才战胜山口。

然而，金牌争夺战的比分远比最终比分显示的要悬殊得多，尤其是在第一局中段之后。山口似乎拼尽全力，多次出现反击，而安则轻松取胜。

决赛展现了安的所有特质，让她成为一股不可阻挡的力量。她防守顽强，能够追到高难度的球，凭借出色的体能、耐心和卓越的场上覆盖能力，她能在持久战中消耗对手的体力。

事后，安坚持认为这场比赛并不像她表现得那么容易，尽管她的语气听起来不太令人信服。

“山口是一位非常优秀的防守球员，而且速度很快。我得仔细思考该如何对付她，”安说道。“但我如果想得太多反而容易犯错，所以我今天想在场上快速做出决定。结果还不错。”

2026年9月29日，在日本一宫市体育馆举行的爱知-名古屋亚运会羽毛球女单决赛中，韩国选手安世荣回击日本选手山口茜的来球。（韩联社）

jeeho@yna.co.kr (完)

哈里王子将向韩国伤残退伍军人体育赛事发来祝贺视频。

（第二部分）BTS 横扫 MTV 音乐录影带大奖三项大奖；BLACKPINK 的 Lisa 荣获最佳流行歌手奖

（导语）基辅方面宣布移交朝鲜战俘，外交部召见乌克兰特使

（紧急）韩国在亚运会男子街式滑板比赛中夺得金牌

（亚运会）韩国队在亚运会男子4×100米接力赛中被取消资格

（头条）朝鲜在亚运会举重项目中斩获两枚金牌

8月份韩国的外国人数量达到280万。

（第三项）李呼吁恢复与墨西哥的贸易协定谈判，以提升经济合作水平。

（亚运会）凭借两连冠，安世荣巩固了她作为同代最伟大羽毛球运动员的地位。