Including male players, he is the third person in history to receive the honor of being the ‘Best Player Selected by Players’
Ahn Se-young (left) is posing after receiving an award at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025 Gala Dinner held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th (Korean time). Badminton World Federation (BWF) official social networking service (SNS)
‘Shuttlecock Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) was selected as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Female Player of the Year for three consecutive years.
Seyoung Ahn received honors at the BWF Gala Awards held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th (Korean time), beating Wang Ziyi (2nd place), Chen Yufei (5th place, China), and Akane Yamaguchi (3rd place, Japan). This is the third consecutive year of receiving the award, following 2023 and 2024. BWF explained, “This award is the result of a comprehensive evaluation of the outstanding skills, consistency, fair play spirit, and quality as a player shown during one season from December 2024 to November 2025.”
The official Olympic channel ‘Olympic.com’ said, “Ahn Se-young is the first female athlete to be selected as the BWF Female Athlete of the Year for three consecutive years,” and explained, “Even including male athletes, this is a record that only Lin Dan (2006-2008) and Lee Chong-wei (2009-2011, 2013, 2016) have achieved.”
Ahn Se-young was also selected as ‘Female Athlete of the Year chosen by players’ this year, winning two awards. This award was first established last year, and Ahn Se-young was the first recipient and enjoyed the honor of receiving the award for two consecutive years until this year.
Ahn Se-young said through BWF, “I am honored to receive this award. It encourages me to work harder in the future. Winning proves my hard work, but the Player of the Year award is really special because it symbolizes the love and respect that other players have recognized me for.”
Ahn Se-young will participate in the women’s singles at the HSBC Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals held in Hangzhou, China starting on the 17th, and will challenge the tie record for ‘most wins (11) in a BWF single season’ set by Kento Momota (Japan) in 2019.
Reporter Seong Hwan-hee hhsung@hankookilbo.com
