Ahn Se-young (left) was selected as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ‘Female Athlete of the Year’. Screenshot from World Badminton Federation website
Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance) was selected as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ for three consecutive years.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, won the Female Player of the Year award at the BWF Gala Awards held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th (Korean time), beating Wang Zhiyi (2nd place), Chen Yufei (5th place, China), and Akane Yamaguchi (3rd place, Japan). ‘Player of the Year’ is an award that honors players who have demonstrated outstanding talent, consistency, fair play spirit, and individuality throughout the entire season (December 2024 to November 2025).
Ahn Se-young was selected as ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ for the first time in 2023 when she won the Hangzhou Asian Games (held in 2023), and was honored with the award last year with a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Ahn Se-young was also selected as ‘Female Athlete of the Year Selected by Players’ this year, winning two awards. This is the second consecutive year since the award was first established last year.
Ahn Se-young participated in 14 international competitions this year and became the first female singles player to win 10 games in a single season. Starting on the 17th, he will compete in the BWF World Tour Finals held in Hangzhou, China and attempt to set the record for the most wins in a single season. If Ahn Se-young also wins this competition, she will tie the record with Kento Momota (Japan), who set the record for the most wins in a single season for both men and women with 11 wins in 2019.
In her acceptance speech, Seyoung Ahn said, “It is an honor to receive this award,” and “It encourages me to work harder in the future.” In addition, he said, “Winning is proof of my efforts, but the ‘Player of the Year Award chosen by players’ feels even more special because it is an award that recognizes me from other players and shows the love and respect of my competitors.”
The pair of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae (Samsung Life Insurance) also received the honor of winning an award in the men’s doubles. Kim Won-ho said, “It was an award I always wanted to receive, and I’m really happy to win it with Seungjae this time. It’s an honor to be able to play with Seungjae, and I worked really hard and did my best on the court.”
Reporter Kim Yang-hee whizzer4@hani.co.kr
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