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An Se-young wins Korea Open for 11th badminton title of year

South Korea’s world number one beat Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles final in Yeosu.

By , Sports writer

· 2 min read

All England Open
All England Open (file photo) Photo: Bearas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

An Se-young won her 11th international title of 2026 at the Korea Open in Yeosu, equalling a record set by Kento Momota in 2019 and matched by An herself in 2025. She defeated Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 15-21, 21-16 to extend her unbeaten run since March.

Key takeaways

  • An Se-young won her 11th title of 2026 at the Korea Open in Yeosu on Nov 8.
  • She beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 15-21, 21-16 in the final.
  • She equalled Kento Momota’s 2019 record and her own 2025 mark of 11 titles in one season.
  • An has lost only once in 72 matches this season.
  • She extended her winning streak against Yamaguchi to 11 matches.

South Korea's An Se-young won her 11th international title of the year at her home Korea Open on Sunday, beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 15-21, 21-16 in the women's singles final at Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu.

The victory extended her unbeaten run back to March and equalled her single-season record tally of 11 titles, a mark she first set in 2025. The only other player to reach that number is retired former men's singles world number one Kento Momota in 2019.

Context

An, the world number one, has won eight tournaments on the BWF World Tour this season, along with gold medals at the Badminton Asia Championships, the BWF World Championships in New Delhi in August, and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.

She became the first woman to win two Asian Games singles titles. Her only loss in 72 matches all season came against Wang Zhiyi of China in the All England Open final in March, where she finished runner-up. She also withdrew injured from the Japan Open.

The final

Yamaguchi, the world number two and a 29-year-old former world champion, had last beaten An in the final of the Korea Open in 2025. An said she did not dwell on that result, noting that sometimes she wins and sometimes Yamaguchi does.

She described Yamaguchi as a player who brings different styles into every match and said she had to keep her intensity up until the end. The win was An's 11th straight victory over Yamaguchi.

What happens next

An remains on the BWF World Tour after the Korea Open. The sources do not give her next match, date or venue. The Korea Open is the only South Korean event on the BWF World Tour and is categorised as a Super 500 tournament.

Sources

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