Yonhap News
The Korean women’s national team, led by Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), the ‘world’s best in women’s badminton’, won the first trophy in the history of the 2026 Asian Men’s and Women’s Team Badminton Championships.
The women’s badminton team defeated China 3-0 in the women’s final of the tournament held at the Conson Gymnasium in Qingdao, China on the 8th. Korea won the Asian team event for the first time in 10 years since the competition was founded in 2016.
Ahn Se-young took center stage. As the first runner, he defeated Han Chenxi (38th) 2-0 (21-7 21-14) in 39 minutes.
Next, the women’s doubles team of Baek Hana (Incheon International Airport) and Kim Hye-jeong (Samsung Life Insurance) defeated the Ji Aifan and Zhang Shuxian team 2-0 (24-22 21-8). Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance, world ranking 17th) ended the match by defeating Xu Wenjing (127th) 2-1 (19-21 21-10 21-17).
So far, Korea has not fielded key players for reasons such as conditioning. However, this time, they used all of the top ranked players, including Ahn Se-young, and showed a strong will to win. Held every two years, this competition is the most prestigious team event in Asia.
It also serves as the Asian qualifier for the World Team Championships. The Korean women’s national team secured a ticket to the finals of the World Women’s Team Championship (Uber Cup) to be held in Denmark in April.
Previously, Korea defeated Singapore (5-0 win) and Chinese Taipei (4-1 win) in the group stage and advanced to the finals as first place in the group. They defeated Malaysia 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Indonesia 3-1 in the semifinals.
The men’s national team lost 2-3 to China in the semifinals the day before and ended the tournament in a tie for third place. However, the men’s national team also qualified for the finals of the World Men’s Team Championship (Thomas Cup) by finishing in the semifinals or higher.
date: 2026-02-08 09:46:00
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