South Korea's An Se-young won the Korea Open women's singles title on Sunday, beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 15-21, 21-16 in the final at Jinnam Gymnasium in Yeosu, Sportstar reported.
An took the first game comfortably, lost the second, and pulled clear in the decider between the current and former world No. 1s.
Why it matters: a record-equalling year
The win was An's 11th international title of 2026, The Korea Times reported. That equals the record for a single year, set by Japan's men's singles player Kento Momota in 2019 and matched by An herself in 2025.
This year she has won eight tournaments on the BWF World Tour, along with gold at the Badminton Asia Championships, the BWF World Championships and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, according to The Korea Times. Her only defeat in 72 matches this season came against China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March.
Sportstar put her current winning streak at 55 matches.
Revenge on home soil
Yamaguchi beat An in straight games, 21-18, 21-13, in last year's Korea Open final. This season the pattern has reversed: An has now beaten Yamaguchi six times in 2026, Sportstar reported, and 11 times in a row overall, according to The Korea Times.
An had considered skipping the tournament because of fatigue, The Korea Times reported, but chose to play in front of home fans. The Korea Open is the only Korean event on the BWF World Tour.