Ahn Se-young: 3-Peat Athlete of the Year & ‘King of Kings’ Finale

Badminton powerhouse Ahn Se-young, who had a more brilliant year than ever before, won the Female Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year. Now all that remains is ‘The King of Kings’, which will mark the finale of the season.

Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, received the Female Player of the Year award at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Gala Awards held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th. She surpassed China’s Chen Yufei (5th place), her nemesis, and Japan’s rival Akane Yamaguchi (3rd place). Ahn Se-young won the Female Athlete of the Year award for three consecutive years until this year. She also received the Female Athlete of the Year award chosen by the players. Seyoung Ahn is the inaugural recipient of this award, which was first established last year. This is the second consecutive award.

Ahn Se-young set the record for the most wins in a women’s singles season by winning nine BWF international competitions in 2023, and even swept the Hangzhou Asian Games held in September of the same year. In 2024, the gold medal at the Paris Olympics was accompanied by four wins in the BWF competition.

This year, Ahn Se-young had a more dominant season compared to the past two years. He participated in 14 individual competitions hosted by BWF and won the championship 10 times. The record for most wins set in 2023 was broken in two years. He started the season by winning four consecutive tournaments from the Malaysia Open in January to the All England Open in March, and maintained his position as the world’s best until the end of the season with three consecutive wins from the Denmark Open in October to the recent Australian Open. After receiving the award, Ahn Se-young said, “I feel like it is encouragement to make greater efforts.” He added, “The Player of the Year award, which was directly selected by the players, is even more special in that it has been recognized by other players. It is truly meaningful because it is an award that embodies the love and respect of competitors.”

Seyoung Ahn will compete in the BWF World Tour Finals, the last competition of the year. This is a competition in which only 2 people from each country, 8 people from around the world including annual world tour points, and a maximum of 2 people from each country can participate. It is truly a place to select the best of the best. If Ahn Se-young conquers the World Tour Finals, he will finish the season with 11 wins. It is tied with the most wins in a single badminton season, 11, by Japanese badminton legend Kento Momota in men’s singles in 2019.

The chances of winning are very high. Chen Yufei was unable to participate in the competition after losing out on points to fellow Chinese players Wang Zhiyi and Han Yue. This year, Ahn Se-young lost just four times in international competitions. In two of them, Chen Yufei was the opponent. He was stopped by Chen Yufei in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open and the semifinals of the World Championships. Veteran Chen Yufei was Ahn Se-young’s strongest competitor again this year. That Chen Yufei is not in the World Tour Finals.

The remaining two losses were against Hanwe and Akane Yamaguchi, respectively. Ahn Se-young lost to Han Yue in the semifinals of the China Open in July, but was not in good condition due to knee pain. He withdrew during the game. Against Yamaguchi, they lost in the Korea Cup final. Considering this year’s results alone, it is assessed that the opponent that Ahn Se-young should be most wary of in the World Tour Finals is Yamaguchi.

Ahn Se-young will meet Yamaguchi from the group stage of this tournament. Four players, including Ahn Se-young, Yamaguchi, Putri Kusuma Wardani (Indonesia, 7th), and Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan, 9th), were placed in Group A. The top two players advance to the semifinals. Following Wardani on the 17th and Miyazaki on the 18th, Ahn Se-young meets Yamaguchi in the third round of the preliminary round on the 19th. Considering the possibility of a rematch in the finals, it is necessary to clearly dominate the team starting from the preliminaries.

Korean badminton’s other world No. 1s, men’s doubles Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, will also challenge for their 11th win of the season at the World Tour Finals. Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who won the Men’s Doubles Player of the Year award, begin the tournament on the 17th against Taiwan’s Chu Sang-yan and Wang Chi-lin.

Reporter Shim Jin-yong sim@kyunghyang.com