Back-to-back badminton champion An Se-young looks forward to her future

World No. 1 An Se-young extended her dominance in women’s badminton in Japan on Tuesday, winning her second straight Asian Games gold medal — a feat that no other female singles player had accomplished in the event’s 64-year history.

The 24-year-old Korean star, who has lost just once in 57 matches this year, said that she cannot wait to see how far she can go in her already legendary career.

“I think that I can only get better from here. I’m really excited about that,” she said. “I feel like I have improved since the Paris Olympics two years ago, and I don’t know how much better I can get from this point.”

That is a scary proposition for An’s rivals, though they seem to be rivals in name only, with none of them offering much of a threat lately.

In the gold medal match at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, just northwest of the main Asiad host city of Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday, world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi went on the offensive early before slowing down considerably. The final score of 21-17, 21-9 flattered the Japanese veteran.

An said that she can keep herself motivated because winning never gets old for her.

“Every competition is new to me, and I see myself as a challenger in every event,” she said. “I want to keep winning titles because it always feels new to me.”

She added that she had not thought about making history as the first back-to-back Asiad women’s singles champion and said, “Winning this gold medal is just a part of the process for me.”

“If I let my guard down and lose my focus, then I can always fall from the top,” she continued. “I want to stay locked in on the present and give my best effort every time.”

Asked what she thinks awaits her at the end of her process, An smiled and said, “My happiness.”

“I’ll keep pushing and challenging myself to get to that point," she said. “That is what keeps me going.”

Yonhap