Ahn Se-young Dominates Badminton World with BWF Player of the Year Award in Sight

Ahn Se-young won the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Sports Chosun DB

[스포츠조선 최만식 기자] Ahn Se-young (21, Samsung Life Insurance), a symbol of badminton fighting spirit, is called a ‘history maker.’ This year, Ahn Se-young left a series of meaningful records in Korean badminton history. Last March, she won the women’s singles gold medal at the All England Open, the world’s most prestigious tournament, for the first time in 27 years since Bang Bang-hyeon (51) in 1996. In August, she was ranked number one in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings. She was ranked number one in women’s singles for the first time in 27 years since 1996 (Bang Soo-hyun). She also topped the World Individual Championships, making her the first Korean singles player to do so. A new record was created. In October, she won the ‘2022 Hangzhou Asian Games’, where she swept the women’s team event and women’s singles, achieving a feat 29 years after the 1994 Hiroshima Games. Ahn Se-young, who is having such a brilliant 2023, challenges her record to add to her Korean badminton history.

This is the BWF PLAYER OF THE YEAR award. This award certifies that BWF is truly the best in the world when it concludes a season every year. According to the list of candidates recently released by BWF, Ahn Se-young was nominated for the Female Player of the Year award along with Chen Yu-fei (China) and Akane Yamaguchi (Japan). Since the competition performance, which is the most important factor in selecting the winner, is based on competitions held from November of last year to October of this year, Ahn Se-young has a huge advantage.

Capture of BWF homepage.

Capture of BWF homepage. Ahn Se-young, who was concentrating on rehabilitation due to an injury sustained during the Hangzhou Asian Games, only made it to the round of 16 at the China Masters Badminton Championships (21st-26th), her first appearance, and although her rival Chen Yufei won, she is not included in the evaluation for the Player of the Year award. Ahn Se-young has dominated her rivals in her awards performance during her evaluation period, including winning the most gold medals among women’s singles players this year.

BWF also said of Ahn Se-young in the evaluation of each candidate, “He had a season that other players dream of. During the evaluation period, he won 11 titles (including the Australian Open in November 2022). This year, he won all but one of the 14 competitions. “I advanced to the finals and won 10 times.” Yamaguchi, who won the Player of the Year award last year, is counted as having won a total of 5 gold medals during the evaluation period, and Chen Yu-fei has won 3 gold medals, so they are virtually a world away from Ahn Se-young.

If Ahn Se-young is honored this time, Korean badminton will enjoy its first great success in 20 years. At the BWF Awards, which was created in 1998, Korea has never produced a Player of the Year since winning the award two years in a row in 2002 (Kim Dong-moon) and 2003 (Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min). In addition, Ahn Se-young was selected as the ‘Most Promising Player of the Year (Rookie of the Year)’ in 2019, making history as the first Korean player to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards. An official in the domestic badminton industry said, “Based on the BWF’s award standards, Ahn Se-young is certain to win the award.”

Korean badminton attracted attention by producing candidates in three other categories besides Ahn Se-young. In particular, Seo Seung-jae (26, Samsung Life Insurance) was selected as a candidate in two categories: Male Athlete of the Year and Doubles. In the doubles category, he was named along with Chae Yu-jeong (28, Incheon International Airport), with whom he teamed up to win the World Championships.

In addition, in the male disabled athlete award category, Kim Jeong-jun (Daegu Urban Development Corporation), ranked second in the disabled badminton WH2 class world rankings, was nominated. Korea produced the Male Disabled Athlete of the Year in 2015 and 2017, and Kim Jeong-jun is aiming to win the award for the second time following 2017.

This year’s BWF Player of the Year will be announced on December 11 in Hangzhou, China, prior to the opening of the BWF World Tour Finals (December 13-17).
Reporter Choi Man-sik [email protected]

2023-11-27 21:28:32
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