An Se-young Reaches Korea Open Quarterfinals With 52nd Straight Win

A 36 Minute Win Keeps an 11th Title Within Reach

An Se-young extended her winning streak to 52 matches on November 5, defeating Malaysia's Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-10, 21-12 at Jinnam Gymnasium in Yeosu to reach the 2026 Korea Open quarterfinals. The world No. 1 needed just 36 minutes to beat the player ranked 28th and move within three victories of her 11th title of the season.

The Samsung Life player now has 68 wins from 69 matches this year, a winning percentage of 98.55%. Her only defeat came against China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March. Since then, she has won every match.

An will face Japan's Riko Gunji, ranked 20th, in the quarterfinals on November 6. She has won both of their previous meetings. Another Korea Open title would bring her level with the 11 tournament victories she collected last season and give her a third championship at the event.

The result comes after An considered skipping the tournament because of fatigue and discomfort following consecutive titles in Denmark and France. She chose to play in front of Korean supporters despite saying that her physical condition was not at 100%.

Two Fast Starts Put Letshanaa Under Pressure

An opened both games with five consecutive points, immediately forcing Letshanaa to chase the score. In the first game, the Malaysian reduced the gap to 10-7 before An won eight points in succession to move ahead 18-7. That burst turned a competitive passage into a commanding lead.

An combined shots into the corners with steady defence, returning attacks before finding space for her own finishes. She closed the opening game 21-10, then followed a similar pattern in the second.

At 13-8 in the second game, An collected four consecutive points to reach 17-8. Letshanaa could not close the gap. The second game was also listed as 21-11, although the principal result was 21-12; both scores record a victory in two games.

An's record against Letshanaa improved to five wins from five meetings. Their earlier encounters this season included matches in the women's team competitions at the Asian Team Championships in Qingdao and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Four Games Won in 75 Minutes

An had begun her Korea Open campaign on November 4 with a 21-6, 21-8 victory over Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova. That match lasted 39 minutes, giving her a combined playing time of 75 minutes across the opening two rounds.

Against Nalbantova, An started the first game with six consecutive points. From 13-6, she won the next eight points to finish it. In the second game, she reached the interval with an 11-1 advantage before completing another comfortable win.

Across the two matches, An has won four games without dropping one, scoring 84 points and conceding 36 using the 21-12 result against Letshanaa. Neither opponent reached 13 points in a game.

Those short matches reduce the time she must spend competing during a week in which recovery remains a concern. The schedule still leaves little space between rounds: the quarterfinals, semifinals and final are due on three consecutive days.

What 68 Wins From 69 Matches Means

An's season record combines a long unbeaten run with success across an unusually large number of matches. Dividing 68 victories by 69 appearances gives her current winning percentage of 98.55%, equivalent to winning more than 98 out of every 100 matches.

Her winning percentage last season was 94.81%. The current figure is 3.74 percentage points higher, although this season is still in progress and further results will change the calculation.

By the end of the French Open in October, An had reached 66 wins and one loss, with 50 consecutive victories. Her two wins in Yeosu have added two to both the season total and the unbeaten sequence.

The title count measures something different. Match victories move a player through a draw, while a tournament title requires winning the final. An already has 10 titles this season, including the Asian Games women's singles gold medal and the Denmark Open and French Open championships.

Gunji Comes Next, With Yamaguchi a Possible Final Opponent

Gunji is An's next opponent, and their previous meetings give the Korean a 2-0 advantage. An also arrives at the quarterfinal with 21 consecutive victories over Japanese players since October last year.

World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi is a leading contender on the other side of the title race. China's Wang, ranked third, and Chen Yufei, ranked fourth, are absent from the tournament, removing two prominent rivals from the draw.

Yamaguchi defeated An in last year's Korea Open final. Since that loss, An has won their next 10 meetings and now leads their career record 24-15. One English account reverses the direction of that recent streak, but the detailed records put An ahead.

Yamaguchi had to recover from losing the opening game against Singapore's Loh Sin Yann Happy in her first match in Yeosu, eventually winning 12-21, 21-13, 21-15. A final against An is still a possibility, with both players needing to advance through the remaining rounds.

Why An Nearly Missed Her Home Tournament

An's participation followed days of uncertainty about her body after a demanding sequence of competitions. She won the Asian Games women's singles title in September, then collected the Denmark Open and French Open titles on consecutive weekends in October.

During the Denmark Open final, she experienced discomfort around her right Achilles tendon, the band of tissue connecting the calf muscles to the heel. She later competed in France with support around her knee and calf. Badminton repeatedly puts those areas to work through lunges, jumps and rapid changes of direction.

Her possible Korea Open withdrawal had become a concern after she returned to South Korea on October 27. At that stage, she planned to rest and assess her condition before deciding whether to compete in Yeosu.

An, the world No. 1 and Korea's leading women's singles player, explained her hesitation after her opening match:

I agonized a lot until the end. Maybe because I've lived with a lot of injuries, I was very worried,

She then explained why she entered:

I entered because I wanted to hear the cheers of Korean fans.

Home Support Fills the Seats in Yeosu

The Korea Open is South Korea's only BWF World Tour tournament, giving domestic supporters a chance to watch An without travelling abroad. This year's event runs from November 3 to 8 at Jinnam Gymnasium, with about 600 players from 27 countries expected to participate.

Tickets for the semifinals on November 7 and the finals on November 8 sold out early. By November 5, tickets for all four remaining days, from the round of 16 through the finals, had sold out. About 2,000 seats were offered for sale each day.

An said the crowd's support felt special and described the pleasure of hearing that people had started playing badminton because of her. For a player whose schedule is dominated by overseas tournaments, Yeosu offers a direct connection with supporters at home.

The attendance also gives her title pursuit a local dimension. Fans have filled the available seats while An attempts to turn two quick opening victories into her first Korea Open championship since 2023.

A Third Korea Open Crown and Another Season of 11 Titles

An won the Korea Open in 2022 and 2023. She missed the 2024 tournament while managing her condition after the Paris Olympics, then returned to reach the final in 2025, when Yamaguchi took the title.

Winning this week would therefore deliver two milestones: a third Korea Open championship and a second consecutive season with 11 titles. Her total last year matched the 11 singles titles Japan's Kento Momota won in 2019.

An would also become the first player since the BWF World Tour began in 2018 to collect at least 11 titles in each of two consecutive seasons. She needs three more victories in Yeosu to reach that mark.

Her remaining schedule includes the BWF World Tour Finals in December. She has withdrawn from the Kumamoto Masters in Japan, scheduled for November 10 to 15, leaving a break after the Korea Open rather than another immediate tournament appearance. A precise assessment of her current injuries has not been announced.

Korea's Other Results and the Remaining Schedule

Korea's progress elsewhere was less successful on November 5. Men's singles player Yoo Tae-bin, ranked 37th and an Asian Games bronze medallist, lost 15-21, 25-27 to Japan's Yudai Okimoto, ranked 21st.

All four Korean mixed doubles pairs competing in the round of 16 were eliminated. Among them, Kim Jae-hyeon and Jang Ha-jeong lost 14-21, 19-21 to China's Gao Jiaxuan and Wu Mengying.

An's next match begins the final stretch of the tournament. Her route from the European titles to the remaining rounds in Yeosu is:

• October: An won the Denmark Open and French Open, reaching 10 titles for the season and 50 consecutive match victories.
• November 4: She defeated Nalbantova 21-6, 21-8 in 39 minutes in the Korea Open opening round.
• November 5: She beat Letshanaa in 36 minutes to reach the quarterfinals and extend her streak to 52 wins.
• November 6: She is scheduled to face Gunji in the quarterfinals.
• November 7: The semifinals are scheduled in Yeosu.
• November 8: The tournament concludes with the finals.

Key Points

• An Se-young reached the Korea Open quarterfinals with a 21-10, 21-12 victory over Karupathevan Letshanaa.
• The world No. 1 has won 52 consecutive matches and holds a season record of 68 wins and one loss.
• She faces Japan's Riko Gunji on November 6 and leads their previous meetings 2-0.
• A title in Yeosu would be her 11th of the season and her third Korea Open championship.
• An entered despite concerns about her physical condition and has withdrawn from the following week's Kumamoto Masters.
• Tickets for the final four days sold out, with the Korea Open final scheduled for November 8.