After winning the world championship, Korean badminton star An Se-young said that she will soon switch to focusing on defending her gold medal at ASIAD.
The 2026 Asian Games will take place in September in Japan.
An Se-young returned home early Tuesday morning (local time), 2 days after winning her second world championship title in her career in the women's singles in New Delhi.
The world No. 1 female tennis player from South Korea defeated the opponent right behind her in the rankings, Akane Yamaguchi, from Japan with a score of 21-17, 21-14 in the final.
An went through the World Championship journey with a 6-match winning streak without losing a single set.
This is An's first tournament since her left leg injury forced her to withdraw from the Japan Open in July after only one match.
I was quite nervous because this is the first tournament I have returned to after an injury and I just tried to focus on regaining my feelings on the field," An shared at Incheon International Airport, "I didn't set too high expectations for myself and was very surprised to be able to bring such a great result.
An admitted that she did not completely recover from the pain throughout the tournament, but her physical condition improved as the tournament progressed.
With the pain still lingering, I think I was a bit hesitant in the first matches," An said, "But when I continued to play against world-class opponents, I was able to adjust and react to decisive hits when necessary.
An has extended his consecutive wins against Yamaguchi to 6. The veteran Japanese player once dominated against An, but the Korean star has taken the upper hand since rising to world No. 1 in August 2023.
This trend also heralds good things for An's chances of winning her second consecutive women's singles gold medal at the Asian Games, where Yamaguchi is one of the host players.
I think continuing to defeat her is a very good sign," An said, "If I continue to enter the Asian Games with confidence and the mentality of having nothing to lose, I think the opponent will feel stressed. I want to continue to maintain what I have been and am doing.
With many of An's big opponents from Asia - Wang Zhiyi of China and Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand being the 2 tennis players entering the semi-finals of the world tournament, while Chen Yufei of China is the defending ASIAD runner-up - the upcoming Asian tournament will not be much different from the world championship.
I really want to win another Asian Games gold medal, but others also want to win it," An shared, "The most important thing is not to put too much pressure on myself. I know it will take a lot of effort to achieve the goal, and I will try to compete with confidence.
Before her opponents recently admitted their helplessness when facing the Korean star - after losing to An in the semi-finals in New Delhi, Wang Zhiyi happily asked her: "How to beat you?" - An said the difference probably comes from the level of self-confidence.
I have a lot of faith in myself and in the efforts I have put in," An said, "And the biggest key is to play with confidence so that that belief turns into real form on the court.
