Ahn Se-young has created another milestone in world badminton history. Now, even the expression ‘the strongest player in active duty’ is insufficient. Records, trends, and results are all pointing towards Ahn Se-young.
Ahn Se-young was selected as the 2025 Female Athlete of the Year at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Gala Awards held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th (Korean time).
This is the third consecutive year of receiving the award, following 2023 and 2024. It is an unprecedented record for a female athlete, and for both men and women, it is a record that has been achieved 14 years after Lin Dan (China, 2006-2008) and Lee Chong-wei (Malaysia, 2009-2011). With this, Ahn Se-young set a new standard by becoming the first female athlete to win ‘Player of the Year’ three times in a row.
The award process was never easy. Seyoung Ahn was eliminated in the semifinals at this year’s World Championships and ended up with a bronze medal. On the other hand, Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) won the gold medal at the World Championships, and Chen Yufei and Wang Ziyi (China) were also evaluated as strong competitors. Failure to win the World Tour Finals was also mentioned as a weakness.
However, Ahn Se-young’s performance throughout the season was enough to erase all doubts. Ahn Se-young won a total of 10 competitions in the 2025 season alone. He won all of the Super 1000 tournaments, including the Malaysia Open, All England Open, and Indonesia Open, and also swept the Super 750 tournaments, including the India Open, Japan Open, China Masters, Denmark Open, and French Open. In addition, he virtually monopolized the major competitions he participated in by winning the Super 500 Australian Open and the Super 300 Orleans Masters.
In particular, it is overwhelming that players ranked 1st to 15th in the world reached the finals in 8 of the 10 mandatory competitions and stood at the top in all of them. This is not simply the number of wins, but means that they dominated the entire tour. Se-young Ahn also broke the record for most wins in a single season in women’s singles (9), which she set in 2023.
The numbers are even more complete. The season record was 68 wins and 4 losses, with a win rate of 94.4%. He has established a dominant system, never once giving up his No. 1 spot in the world rankings. She also earned $763,175 (about 1.12 billion won) in prize money, completing the top-level profit structure in women’s singles.
Now, attention turns to the BWF World Tour Finals, the final stage of the season and also known as the ‘King of Kings’. Seyoung Ahn will participate in the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals to be held in Hangzhou, China starting on the 17th. This competition is a stage where only the players with the best performance during the season are invited. This is an opportunity to determine the true season champion amidst competition among the undisputed best in the world.
Ahn Se-young already holds the record as the youngest winner of the World Tour Finals by winning this competition in 2021. He is the only player to reach the top before his 20th birthday. However, in 2023 and 2024, they were eliminated in the semifinals in succession and did not advance to the finals. This competition is a golden opportunity to wash away that regret.
Group formation is not easy. In the first match, Ahn Se-young faces Putri Kusuma Wardani, then Japan’s next-generation ace Tomoka Miyazaki and her arch-rival Akane Yamaguchi. Ahn Se-young remains unwavering despite being evaluated as a ‘group of death.’ Rather, the overwhelming performance shown this season is the basis for confidence.
If she wins this tournament, Ahn Se-young will tie the record of 11 wins in a single season set by Japanese legend Kento Momota in 2019. Furthermore, if you add the $240,000 prize money for winning the finals, you will make another history as the first singles player of both men and women to exceed $1 million in prize money in a single season.
Despite the single gap of failing to win the World Championship, Ahn Se-young has established herself as the ‘Badminton Empress’ that no one can deny in the 2025 season. Next to the names of Lin Dan and Lee Chong-wei, the name An Se-young is now proudly engraved.
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