An Se-young cruises into semis, chases historic back-to-back Asian Games title

An Se-young, the undisputed force in women's singles badminton with few rivals to speak of, has advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Games.

An, the world No. 1 in women's singles, defeated world No. 5 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 2-0 (21-8, 21-9) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday.

Having played through both the round of 32 and round of 16 on Saturday in a packed schedule, An made quick work of the veteran Intanon, wrapping up the match in just 33 minutes.

She seized control early in the first game, conceding only eight points, then closed out the second with equal authority, giving up just nine.

The win extended An's dominant run this year to 52 wins against a single loss across 53 matches.

The overwhelming favorite to take the title, An is now chasing history. Should she win the women's singles gold, she would become the first player ever to claim back-to-back Asian Games women's singles titles in badminton — having swept both the team and singles events at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

In the semifinals, An will face the winner of the match between world No. 4 Chen Yufei of China and world No. 11 Pusarla V. Sindhu of India.

Meanwhile, the world No. 1 men's doubles pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho also advanced to the semifinals with a thrilling 2-1 comeback win (15-21, 21-17, 21-15) over Japan's Nishi Hiroki and Kumagai Kakeru, ranked 20th in the world. After dropping the first game and falling behind 3-5 in the second, the Korean pair reeled off 10 consecutive points to swing the momentum, then held off a fierce Japanese charge to level the match. In the deciding game, they trailed 12-13 before rattling off five straight points to seal the victory, ending a 69-minute battle.

The pair tied the all-time record for most titles in a single season last year with 11 championships, but had gone without a title in their last six tournaments. They are looking to use the Asian Games as a stage for a triumphant return to form.

The women's doubles pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, ranked second in the world, also booked their semifinal spot with a 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) win over Taiwan's Hsu Yin-hui and Lin Zhi-yun. After edging a tense deuce battle in the first game, they pulled away with four consecutive points from 14-13 in the second to seal a comfortable victory.