World No. 1 in women's singles Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) cruised into the quarterfinals of the Asia's most prestigious individual tournament, the Asian Championships.
On Apr. 9 at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center in China, Ahn Se-young swept No. 26 Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam 2-0 (21-7, 21-6) in just 30 minutes in the women's singles round of 16 at the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships.
Seizing an overwhelming lead from the first game, Ahn Se-young finished the match without a single scare.
The Asian Championships is the top-tier individual event that brings together badminton powerhouses from Korea, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and corresponds to the BWF World Tour Super 1000 level. For Ahn Se-young, this tournament is like the "final piece of the Grand Slam," as she has already won gold medals at the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Asian Games.
Until now, Ahn Se-young steadily reached the podium at the Asian Championships with a bronze in 2022 and a silver in 2023, but had not been linked with the title. In 2024, she was stopped in the quarterfinals due to injury, and last year she skipped the event.
Korea's men's doubles world No. 1 pair Seo Seung-jae–Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life Insurance) also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Singapore's Eng Kit Wesley Koh–Goh Boon Jun (No. 46) 2-0 (21-12, 25-23) in the round of 16.
In women's singles, Shim Yu-jin (Incheon International Airport, No. 19) also reached the quarterfinals by defeating Malaysia's Karupathevan Letshanaa (No. 37) 2-0 (21-14, 21-8) in the round of 16. She carried over the momentum from earlier when she upset China's Han Yue, ranked No. 5.
The mixed doubles pair Kim Jae-hyun (Yonex)–Jang Ha-jung (Incheon International Airport) and the men's doubles pair Kang Min-hyeok (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps)–Gi Dong-ju (Incheon International Airport) also advanced side by side to the quarterfinals, continuing the strong showing by the Korean squad.
By contrast, the women's doubles world No. 3 pair Baek Ha-na–Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) fell 0-2 (17-21, 16-21) to Indonesia's Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi–Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (No. 53) and exited in the round of 16. In women's singles, Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance) also ended her run in the round of 16.