THERE seems to be no stopping An Se-young (pic), who created more history by defending her women’s singles title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The South Korean world No. 1 became the first women’s singles player to defend the Asian Games title after beating home favourite Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 in the final at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi yesterday.
Since badminton made its Asian Games debut at Jakarta 1962, there had been 16 different women’s singles champions before Se-young became the first to win the title in successive editions, having also triumphed at Hangzhou 2022.
Despite the straight-game win, Se-young admitted the final was not as easy as the scoreline suggested as she had to deal with plenty of doubts during the match.
“It was a match where I had many concerns. Yamaguchi has excellent defence and is also very quick, so I had a lot to think about.
“Because I made many mistakes while worrying about what shot to play, I decided to make quicker decisions as the match went on and things started to work well.
“Compared to the final three years ago, a lot has changed. Because of what happened in that match, I think I was able to grow into the player I am today.
“I am truly grateful for that process because it has helped shape me into who I am now,” said Se-young after the match.
The 24-year-old has now won all the major titles in the sport, adding the Asian Games crown to her second world title in New Delhi last month and the Asian Championships title in Ningbo, China, earlier this year.
She also helped South Korea regain the Uber Cup in Horsens in April.
But Se-young is not looking too far ahead and said her focus remains on the next tournament.
“I think this is just one part of the process. I will play in many more tournaments from now on and no one knows how much more I can improve. That is what I look forward to.
“If I lose focus in the tournaments ahead, I can also fall behind. I just want to focus on the present and do my best. My next goal is to win the next tournament,” she added.
Earlier, South Korea had more reason to celebrate when Lee So-hee-Baek Ha-na captured the women’s doubles gold after beating world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning 26-28, 21-18, 21-18.
China, meanwhile, secured the mixed doubles gold through Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin, who defeated Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina 21-19, 21-8.
