Led by their icon An Se Young, Korea made history at the Badminton Asia Championships, capturing the women’s title for the very first time in the sixth edition of the tournament. Korea had finished runners-up twice previously, in 2020 and 2022.
On Sunday, taking on a Chinese team with emerging stars in singles, Korea were never threatened as they aced the challenge 3-0. An Se Young led the way with a 21-7 21-14 victory over Han Qian Xi. Baek Ha Na/Kim Hye Jeong made it 2-0 beating Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian 24-22 21-8, before Kim Ga Eun wrapped up the tie holding off 2024 World Junior champion Xu Wen Jing 19-21 21-10 21-17.
China suffered another blow later in the day as they lost the men’s final to Japan, who, like Korea, were first-time winners.
Yushi Tanaka gave Japan the lead beating 2024 World Junior champion Hu Zhe An 21-10 21-18. Kakeru Kumagai/Hiroki Nishi achieved an upset in men’s doubles as they upstaged He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu in three games, and then Koki Watanabe didn’t let go of the opportunity as he won a close 22-24 21-17 21-18 result over Zhu Xuan Chen.
Chinese Taipei and Indonesia (women’s team) and Korea and Indonesia (men’s team) were the beaten semifinalists.
China had a close shave in the men’s team semifinals against Korea, fighting off a 0-2 deficit. After Yoo Tae Bin (men’s singles) and Jin Yong/Kim Won Ho had put the Koreans ahead, China fought back through Hu Zhe An, men’s doubles duo Chen Jun Ting/Liu Jun Rong and Dong Tian Yao.
