Sports | Sports general
input2025-12-27 13:04:41
‘World’s Strongest’ Ahn Se-young, 2026 season starts on January 1
Departure to participate in Malaysia Open
Ends in 2025 and starts in 2026
[스포츠서울 | 강윤식 기자] We had a hectic year in 2026. By writing a new history, we once again reaffirmed our position as the ‘world’s best.’ This is the story of Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance). It will be ’10 days’ from the first day of 2026. Starting January 1st, I will be flying to participate in the Malaysia Open.
2025 was truly Ahn Se-young’s year. It was gorgeous from the start. He started off by winning his first tournament, the Malaysia Open. Since then, he has been at the top of the Indian Open, Orleans Masters, and All England Open. It didn’t stop. The Indonesia Open and Japan Open are also crowned champions.
It was a bit shaky during the hot summer. However, I soon found stability and ran without stopping until the end of the year. And the last World Tour Finals. It was a ‘King of Kings’ where the best of 2025 gathered. I reached the top here.
He wrote a new history by winning the World Tour Finals. 11 wins in a season is the record for the most wins in a single season. In 2019, Japan’s Kento Momota set a record of 11 wins in men’s singles. Ahn Se-young set a record that no one could reach in the women’s singles.
This is not the end. It also set a record for the highest win rate. In a total of 77 matches this year, they lost only 4 times. It recorded a win rate of 94.8%. The previous record was 51 wins and 3 losses (94.4%) set by Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in men’s singles in 2022.
Naturally, he was the player who swept the most prize money in 2025. Ahn Se-young’s accumulated prize money this season, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), is $1,003,175. In badminton history, there has not been a single player whose accumulated prize money in a single season exceeded $1 million. This year, Ahn Se-young is the first.
We are heading towards 2026 before the end of 2025, which left behind results that will make you feel full just by looking at them. The badminton team will depart for Malaysia on a plane at 12:10 a.m. on January 1, 2026. Afterwards, the schedule is to play the India Open and then return to Korea on January 19th.
Ahn Se-young, who had a historic year, will enter the 2026 season immediately without a break. What kind of record will be written in the emperor’s unstoppable race? skywalker@sportsseoul.com
