An defends women's singles title, China claims mixed doubles gold in badminton

NAGOYA -- Defending champion An Se-young of South Korea beat home favorite Akane Yamaguchi to claim back-to-back women's singles titles, while China secured mixed doubles gold as the badminton competition at the 2026 Asian Games concluded on Tuesday.

An defeated Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 without dropping a game throughout the tournament. The victory made her the first women's singles player to win consecutive Asian Games titles.

The world No. 1 has continued her dominance this season, playing 57 matches and losing just once.

"It really does feel like a dream. I am so happy," said the 24-year-old. "Everything I put into it keeps coming back to me. It is overwhelming.

"I am going to be true to the present and do my best," she added.

In mixed doubles, China's Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin rallied from 18-13 down in the opening game to beat Indonesia's Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah 21-19, 21-8.

"It's just down to belief, isn't it? When you're up against the wall, you just have to stand firm. Stand firm until your opponents make mistakes. The difference is that we hung on longer than our opponents," Wei said of their first-game comeback.

The victory gave China a fourth consecutive Asian Games mixed doubles title.

In men's doubles, newly crowned world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China took the opening game 21-19, but Indonesia's Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin fought back to win the next two 21-13, 21-18 and claim gold.

Liang and Wang's defeat extended China's 36-year wait for the event's top place.

"It was a good and tight match," Carnando said. "We maintained our playing pattern and kept communication open. We had lost our recent head-to-head matches against them since our last win at the Singapore Open. It served as extra motivation for us."

South Korea's Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee claimed women's doubles gold after a grueling final lasting nearly two hours against China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.

Baek and Lee dropped the opening game 28-26 but bounced back to take the second 21-18. The deciding game remained close until late in the match, when Liu suffered a thigh cramp. The South Korean pair went on to take the third game 21-18.

Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn won the men's singles title by beating Singapore's former world champion Loh Kean Yew 21-12, 21-16.

Seven badminton gold medals were awarded at the Games, with five individual events and two team competitions. China, South Korea and Indonesia each won two golds, while Thailand took the remaining one.