An Se-young wins third consecutive China Masters and extends streak to 33 victories
World number one An Se-young continued her exceptional season by winning the China Masters in Shenzhen, where on September 6 she defeated Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki 21:17, 21:6 in the women's singles final. The South Korean badminton player thus became the first player in the tournament's history to win the title three years in a row, while her current streak grew to 33 consecutive victories. According to reports by the Xinhua and Yonhap agencies, An completed the entire tournament without dropping a game and, across five matches, once again confirmed her status as the leading player in world badminton. The result in Shenzhen carries even greater weight because only two weeks earlier she had won her second world championship title. Ahead of the Asian Games in Japan, her form has therefore once again become one of the main topics in women's singles.
Final decided in 45 minutes
The final against 20-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki lasted 45 minutes, according to Yonhap. The Japanese player, ranked ninth in the world, managed to keep the first game balanced and for a long time did not allow An to create a larger gap. At 13:10, neither player had a completely clear path toward the end of the game, but the world number one then began taking advantage of her opponent's mistakes and gradually increasing her lead. Miyazaki still managed to close the gap to 18:15, but An remained calm in the closing stages and finished the first game 21:17.
The second game was considerably more one-sided. According to Yonhap, An won the first eight points and completely took control of the rhythm of the match at an early stage. Miyazaki scored her first point only at 8:1, after which the South Korean put together another three points and practically removed all uncertainty. The final 21:6 showed how large the difference in consistency, defense and precision became when An raised the tempo. She closed out the victory with a run in which she won six of the final seven points.
That course of the final fitted the pattern An has shown throughout the season: patient play while the score remains open, followed by sudden acceleration as soon as she gains tactical control. In Shenzhen, her ability to turn defensive situations into counterattacks without losing balance or court position particularly stood out. Miyazaki managed on several occasions to extend the rallies, but she did not find a lasting solution to the deep shots and changes of direction that took away the time she needed to prepare her attacks. The final score was therefore not merely a consequence of the Japanese player's larger number of errors, but also of An's ability to gradually narrow her opponent's range of shot choices.
Without dropping a game throughout the tournament
An reached the title without dropping a game in all five matches, Xinhua and Yonhap confirm. In the first round she defeated Lin Hsiang-ti 21:11, 21:3, and in the round of 16 she beat Chinese player Han Qianxi 21:14, 21:7. In the quarterfinals, against compatriot Kim Ga-eun, then the world's 12th-ranked player, she won 21:11, 21:10 in only 37 minutes, according to a report by Seoul Economic Daily. That match further demonstrated how effective An is when she manages to impose her rhythm after an even start: following 6:6 in the first game, she created a large gap and never allowed a comeback.
In the semifinal she faced Akane Yamaguchi, one of the most successful players of recent years and her opponent from the recent World Championships final. An also finished that match in two games, 21:13 and 21:15. Xinhua reports that with that victory she continued her run of success against Yamaguchi, while Seoul Economic Daily recorded that the contest lasted 43 minutes. After 6:6 in the first game, An won five consecutive points, while in the second she immediately opened with a run of six points. In doing so, she effectively prevented Yamaguchi from turning the match into a long physical battle, which had often been one of the key characteristics of their previous encounters.
The final then brought a different profile of opponent. Miyazaki reached the title match after a major semifinal victory over Chinese player Wang Zhiyi, then ranked second in the world, by 21:19, 23:21. Xinhua described that result as one of the biggest surprises of the women's part of the tournament. Against An, however, she was unable to repeat the level of control she had shown against Wang, and after the defeat in Shenzhen their head-to-head record moved to 8:0 in favor of the South Korean, according to Yonhap.
49-1 record and 33 victories since the All England final
The most impressive figure behind the title in China is not only a third consecutive trophy at the same tournament, but the overall season record. Xinhua and Seoul Economic Daily report that An reached 49 victories with only one defeat in 2026, corresponding to a 98 percent success rate. Her only defeat came in March, when Wang Zhiyi beat her in the All England Open final. Since that match, An has won 33 consecutive encounters.
That streak also includes winning the Badminton Asia Championships in April, where she defeated Wang in the final 21:12, 17:21, 21:18. Badminton Asia states that with that title she completed her collection of the biggest continental and global trophies: Olympic gold from Paris 2024, a world title, Asian Games gold and the Asian championship title. It is particularly significant that the victory in Ningbo came only a few weeks after the defeat to Wang in Birmingham, allowing An to respond quickly to the only serious results setback of the season.
In the first half of the year, she also won a series of major World Tour tournaments. Seoul Economic Daily reports that she opened the season with titles at the Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, India Open and Singapore Open before adding the continental championship. Although the total number of titles in the season depends on whether only individual tournaments or team competitions are also counted, her win-loss record leaves little room for doubt about the level of her dominance. From spring to the beginning of September, almost every tournament in which she competed ended with either a deep run into the final stages or a title.
Return after a left foot injury
The season nevertheless did not pass without problems. Yonhap reported in July that An withdrew from the Japan Open after her first appearance because of pain in her left foot and subsequently also missed the China Open. At the end of July she said that she was approaching a full recovery, but ahead of the World Championships in New Delhi there was still some uncertainty over how her body would respond to a multi-day competition. Her return, however, was almost ideal.
At the World Championships in August, An won her second world championship title. According to Yonhap and the Olympic Council of Asia, she defeated Akane Yamaguchi 21:17, 21:14 in the final and completed the entire tournament without dropping a game. It was her first tournament after the injury, so the result had additional importance in assessing her form ahead of the final part of the season. Only a few days later, she traveled to Shenzhen and repeated the same pattern there - five victories, no games lost and another trophy.
Such a run after a forced break is particularly important because of the demands of elite badminton. Players at Super 750 tournament level often go through five matches against opponents from the world's elite in the space of several days, with short recovery intervals. In China, An showed that the injury had not significantly reduced her movement, speed of changing direction or ability to sustain long defensive rallies. At the same time, the fact that she completed a series of matches relatively quickly reduced the overall physical expenditure, which is especially important in the weeks immediately before the Asian Games.
Three years, three titles in Shenzhen
The 2026 title completed An Se-young's three-year domination of the China Masters. She won the first of those three consecutive trophies in 2024, when she defeated China's Gao Fangjie 21:12, 21:8 in the final. Xinhua reported on her victory in Shenzhen at the time, and the tournament brought her first title after her Olympic gold in Paris. A year later she defended the trophy with a 21:11, 21:3 victory over Han Yue, again without any serious uncertainty in the final.
With her third title she became the first player to win the China Masters three years in succession, Xinhua confirmed on September 6, 2026. Such continuity at a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament is particularly valuable because the draw changes from year to year and Shenzhen regularly attracts a large number of players from the world's elite. In three finals An defeated three different opponents while demonstrating different ways of controlling a match: against Gao Fangjie through dominance of the tempo, against Han Yue through almost complete control of the score, and against Miyazaki by gradually breaking down resistance after a competitive first game.
The China Masters has also become one of the tournaments that best illustrates her development after the 2024 Olympic season. The first title in the streak came immediately after a period in which the greatest attention was focused on her Olympic success. The second confirmed that her form was not short-lived, while the third arrived in a season in which she already has world and Asian titles as well as a win-loss record that is rare at the highest level. For An, Shenzhen is therefore no longer just another World Tour stop, but a tournament at which she has created a streak of her own.
Miyazaki confirms she belongs among the world's elite
Although the final was convincing in An's favor, Tomoka Miyazaki's performance was also an important indicator of changes in women's singles. The Japanese player reached the final stages by defeating Wang Zhiyi, the only player to beat An this year. The 21:19, 23:21 victory against the world number two showed that Miyazaki can control a match even against established members of the elite. In the quarterfinals, according to the published tournament results, she convincingly defeated Kaloyana Nalbantova, and before that she had come through several demanding matches in Shenzhen.
Against An, however, she once again encountered an obstacle she has yet to overcome. Yonhap reports that after the final their head-to-head record stands at 8:0 for the South Korean. Their most recent previous meeting came in April at the Asian Championships, where An won 21:16, 21:10. The difference in Shenzhen was particularly visible in the second game, when Miyazaki was not able to take the initiative often enough with the first attacking shot.
For the 20-year-old Japanese player, reaching the final of a Super 750 tournament is nevertheless another step in her rise toward a stable place among the best. The victory over Wang gives her a result whose significance goes beyond the eventual defeat in the final, while reaching the title match against the world number one confirms that in the coming seasons she will be part of the broader battle at the top of women's singles. For An, on the other hand, every new encounter with younger opponents brings a different tactical challenge and further increases the value of her current streak.
The next major goal is the Asian Games in Aichi
The China Masters was An Se-young's final tournament before the 2026 Asian Games in Japan's Aichi Prefecture. Yonhap reports that the women's team competition begins on September 20, while the women's singles starts on September 25 and the final is scheduled for September 29. An will defend the gold she won at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, which were held in 2023 because of a pandemic-related postponement even though they officially carried the name Hangzhou 2022.
If she succeeds in winning the singles again, she would become the first South Korean player in that discipline to win two consecutive Asian Games gold medals. Seoul Economic Daily notes that in South Korean badminton, two consecutive Asian titles had previously been won by Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min in mixed doubles, in Bangkok in 1998 and Busan in 2002. An therefore arrives in Aichi not only as the reigning champion but also with the opportunity to establish a new national benchmark in women's singles.
The competition will remain extremely strong. Wang Zhiyi is the only player to have beaten her this season, Akane Yamaguchi remains a multiple world champion and one of the best defensive players of her generation, while Miyazaki showed in Shenzhen that she can eliminate the world number two. Still, the streak An brings to Japan is difficult to ignore: 33 consecutive victories, the world championship title, a third consecutive China Masters and only one defeat all year. At the moment when the season enters another major national-team stage, the world number one arrives with the strongest run of results in women's singles.
Dominance measured also by the manner of victory
The figures of 49-1 and 33 consecutive victories are impressive enough, but the manner in which they were achieved further explains An Se-young's current position. Across New Delhi and Shenzhen together, she did not lose a single game, meaning that over two major tournaments in succession she never needed a deciding third game. Such efficiency reduces the risk of an upset as well as the physical burden in a congested schedule. In matches against Yamaguchi and Miyazaki, she showed that she can respond equally successfully to players with different profiles - from long, patient rallies to faster attacking play and early seizure of the initiative.
For the remainder of the season, the key question will be whether she can maintain that level after the Asian Games while remaining healthy. The left foot injury in July was a reminder of how quickly the elite badminton schedule can change, especially when major tournaments follow one another at intervals of only a few weeks. At present, however, the available results show no decline in movement or endurance. On the contrary, her return from injury has brought her two consecutive major titles.
The victory in Shenzhen therefore has a double significance. Historically, it gave her the first three-year title streak in China Masters history. In the context of 2026, it confirmed that the sole defeat in March did not develop into a broader weakness and that after the summer break she returned with equal or greater control of her matches. The next test arrives very quickly at the Asian Games, where An will try to transfer her club and individual form into national-team competition with completely different pressure and scheduling.
Sources:
- Xinhua / China.org.cn - final result, third consecutive title, streak of 33 victories and season record of 49-1 (link)
- Yonhap News Agency - course of the final, match duration, head-to-head record with Miyazaki and women's badminton schedule at the Asian Games (link)
- Xinhua - semifinal against Akane Yamaguchi, Miyazaki's victory over Wang Zhiyi and the context of the 2026 China Masters (link)
- Seoul Economic Daily - season record, winning streak, injury context, quarterfinal against Kim Ga-eun and importance of the Asian Games (link)
- Yonhap News Agency - return after injury and winning a second world championship title in New Delhi (link)
- Badminton Asia - 2026 Asian championship title and context of the biggest trophies of her career (link)
- Xinhua - defense of the China Masters title in 2025 with victory over Han Yue (link)
- Xinhua - 2024 China Masters final against Gao Fangjie and first title in the three-year streak (link)