Sunday, 06 September 2026 PDT | 05:16 AM
The 1 News Alt Logo Text Smart News for Global Indians

China Masters: Three

World September 06, 2026 05:04 PM
China Masters: Three

An Se Young continued her remarkable dominance at LI-NING China Masters 2026, defeating Tomoka Miyazaki 21-17 21-6 to claim her seventh individual title of the season.

The victory also made An the first player to win the tournament three years in a row, while extending her perfect head-to-head record against Miyazaki to 8-0. Even more impressively, the Korean did not drop a single game throughout the week, with none of her opponents managing more than 28 points a match.

“I’m so proud of myself. I’m really pleased with the result and I feel so happy,” the world No.1 said after adding another trophy to an already extraordinary season.

It puts her on course to surpass her record-equalling haul of 11 individual titles last year, although the reigning Olympic and world champion acknowledges the challenge will only intensify as a new generation emerges.

“There are many players coming up and challenging. I don’t think any match can be taken lightly,” she said, stressing the need to keep developing and finding areas to improve.

World No.9 Miyazaki provided genuine resistance early on, forcing An deep into the court and disrupting her rhythm. But the 24-year-old remained composed.

“Tomoka put me under a lot of pressure, which left me a bit flustered,” An admitted. “But I tried to calmly maintain my pace and tried not to rush.”

An now heads home to prepare for her gold-medal defence at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, later this month.