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Korea women's badminton team wins gold at Asia Team Championships

Published: 09 Feb. 2026, 11:42

An Se-young celebrates after defeating China's Wang Zhi-yi during their women's singles final match at the BWF Badminton World Tour Finals at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on Dec. 21, 2025. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea’s women’s national badminton team, led by women’s singles world No. 1 An Se-young, who plays for Samsung Life Insurance, won gold at the 2026 Badminton Asia Team Championships.

Korea defeated China 3-0 in the women’s team final on Sunday at Qingdao Conson Gymnasium in Qingdao, China, securing the program’s first-ever championship at the event.

Korea had often sent a second-string squad to the tournament in past editions due to scheduling and workload concerns, but this year fielded its top lineup, including An. Korea topped its group after routing Singapore 5-0 and Chinese Taipei 4-1, then beat Malaysia 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Indonesia 3-1 in the semifinals to reach the final.

Against a Chinese team that did not deploy several of its top singles and doubles players despite being the host, Korea sealed the tie in straight matches. An opened with a 21-7, 21-14 win in 39 minutes over Han Qian Xi.

Baek Ha-na, who plays for Incheon International Airport, and Kim Hye-jeong, who plays for Samsung Life Insurance, followed with a 24-22, 21-8 victory over Jia Yi-fan and Zhang Shu-xian.

In the third match, Kim Ga-eun rallied past Xu Wen-jing 19-21, 21-10, 21-8 to complete the 3-0 win in the best-of-five tie.

Held every two years, the Badminton Asia Team Championships also serve as Asia’s qualifying route to the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals, the men’s and women’s world team championships. By reaching the semifinals, Korea had already clinched a spot at the Uber Cup Finals in Horsens, Denmark, scheduled for April 24 to May 3, and went on to lift the trophy as well.

Korea’s men’s team, meanwhile, fell 2-3 to China in the semifinals a day earlier and finished joint third, but still secured a berth at the Thomas Cup Finals by reaching the last four.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SONG JI-HOON [[email protected]]