Superstar An Se Young on April 12 returns a shot against China's Wang Zhiyi at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae

Superstar An Se Young has completed the grand slam by winning the women's singles title at the Badminton Asia Championships.

The world's top-ranked female player on April 12 defeated No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of China, 2-1, (21-12, 17-21, 21-18) in the final in Ningbo, China. 

After a brief exchange of probing shots early in the match, An used her trademark changes in pace to take the first set.

Wang came back to take the second set thanks to an unconventional strategy that forced An to commit errors.

The final set was tied at 15-15 but An pulled away for the title.

An thus won her sport's grand slam comprising titles in the Olympics (2024), World Championships (2023), continental tournament (2022 in the Asian Games) and finally the Asian Championships.

She is the second woman to achieve this milestone following Carolina Marin of Spain.

In men's doubles, the world's No. 1 duo of Seo Seung Jae and Kim Won Ho also won the title in straight sets over the compatriot team of Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.

The mixed doubles pair of Kim Jae Hyeon and Jang Ha Jeong also clinched the gold after their opponents, world No. 3 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand, withdrew from the match due to injury.

jihlee08@korea.kr