An Se-young of South Korea repeats Asian Games gold in badminton. Adds to Olympic, world titles

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — An Se-young is the world's No. 1-ranked female badminton player, and she proved it again on Tuesday.

The South Korean star defeated three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) to take gold at the Asian Games .

An has now swept the board of big titles: Paris Olympic gold medalist, two-time world champion , and now two-time Asian Games champion.

This is the badminton that's widely popular across Asia — not the one of family picnics and backyard barbecues. It's lightning quick and knitted together by long rallies, chest-first dives and leaping overheads,

An defeated Chen Yufei in the semifinals for her fifth straight victory over her Chinese rival.

An has also stirred things up. After winning in Paris two years ago, she said the national training staff forced her to play through a knee injury. She also said the national team's training methods were outdated.

She threatened to play independently, but backed down from that.

It does not affect play at this level, but the price of shuttlecock has soared recently and forced officials to look for synthetic alternatives.

China is the top producer of shuttlecocks, but poultry production there has decreased in recent years — partly due to bird flu — leading to a shortage or goose or duck feathers to make the traditional shuttlecocks. That's led to a short supply and soaring prices.

The Badminton World Federation earlier this year approved the use of synthetic shuttlecocks in lower-level tournament. Players say the speed and rotation of the synthetic model is different from the traditional equipment.

“This initiative forms part of BWF’s long‑term approach to evaluating synthetic feather shuttlecocks for potential use at the elite level,” the BWF said in a statement earlier this year.

SNTV video journalist Nicky Zhu contributed to this report.

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