Women's badminton No. 1 An Se-young remains unbeaten in first month of year

An Se-young, the world No. 1 in women’s singles badminton, opened this season flawlessly with wins in both international tournaments held in the first month of the year.

An Se-young, the women's singles winner at the India Open 2026, celebrates on the podium at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Jan. 18. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

An Se-young, the world No. 1 in women’s singles badminton, opened this season flawlessly with wins in both international tournaments held in the first month of the year.

An, who plays for Samsung Life Insurance, defeated world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of China 2-0 with scores of 21-13 and 21-11 in just 43 minutes in the final of the Badminton World Federation World Tour India Open held in New Delhi on Sunday.

Following up on her win at this year’s season opener, the Malaysia Open on Jan. 11, An has now claimed back-to-back titles for the second consecutive year, having also won the India Open last year.

She extended her head-to-head record against Wang, her main rival for the top spot in women’s singles, to 18 wins and four losses. This marks her 10th consecutive victory over Wang — all in finals.

Wang, also in top form, once again struggled against what Chinese media call “An-phobia,” a reference to the Korean's dominance.

An Se-young of Korea celebrates after winning the women's single final match against Wang Zhiyi of China during the Badminton Malaysia Open 2026 in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan. 11. [EPA/YONHAP]

Following the match, Chinese media noted that while China has been overcoming “Korea-phobia” in football at the youth national team level, the same cannot be said for women’s singles in badminton. They questioned who, if anyone, could end An’s reign and how.

In the first game of the final, An took control early by scoring six straight points from a 1-1 tie and never looked back, cruising to an eight-point victory. She then comfortably led throughout the second game to seal the match with a 10-point win.

Last year, An tied the record for the most titles in a single season with 11, set a new record for winning percentage in singles at 94.8 percent, and earned the highest-ever prize money total for a singles player at $1 million.

By winning both of this year’s tournaments so far, An has taken another step toward her stated goal of a perfect season — winning every title and maintaining a 100 percent win rate.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY SONG JI-HOON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]