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

ICHINOMIYA, Japan — 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 $1 million in prize money in a season. 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 t