South Korea's women's badminton team, led by world No. 1 An Se-young, claimed its first-ever Asian Mixed Team Badminton Championships title on Wednesday.
The Korean squad defeated China 3-0 in the women's final at Qingdao Consun Gymnasium, securing the country's first championship since the tournament's inception in 2016.
An Se-young, the reigning women's singles world No. 1, set the tone as the lead player. She dispatched Han Chenxi (ranked 38th) 2-0 (21-7, 21-14) in 39 minutes.
The women's doubles pair of Baek Ha-na (Incheon International Airport) and Kim Hye-jung (Samsung Life) followed with a 2-0 victory (24-22, 21-8) over Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian. Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life, world No. 17) then sealed the title by defeating Xu Wenjing (ranked 127th) 2-1 (19-21, 21-10, 21-17) in the best-of-five format.
Unlike previous editions where Korea fielded second-tier players, this year's squad featured top-ranked athletes including An.
Korea advanced through the group stage with victories over Singapore (5-0) and Taiwan (4-1), then swept Malaysia 3-0 in the quarterfinals before defeating Indonesia 3-1 in the semifinals.
The biennial tournament serves as Asia's premier team competition and doubles as the regional qualifier for the world team championships.
With their semifinal finish, the Korean women's team secured automatic qualification for the Uber Cup world team championships in Denmark in April.