11 wins of the season if won… The most wins in a single season in history: Kim Won-ho in men’s clothing, Seo Seung-jae in women’s clothing, Baek Hana in women’s clothing, and So-hee Lee also challenge for the title.
The world’s strongest player, Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), defeated her old enemy Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) for two consecutive days and reached the final stage of the King of Kings.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 3 Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-15 21-12) in the women’s singles semifinals of the 2025 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in China on the 20th.
Ahn Se-young, who took first place in the group after winning 2-1 against Yamaguchi in the third match of Group A of the group stage held the previous day (19th), reaped victory with an even more overwhelming performance that day.
With the win on this day, Ahn Se-young took the lead against Yamaguchi with 17 wins and 15 losses. In this season’s head-to-head matches, they had an overwhelming advantage with 6 wins and 1 loss.
Ahn Se-young, who took the lead from the beginning of the first game, allowed the score to be tied 6-6 and was unable to save Yamaguchi’s smash, leading to a comeback. Then, after a long rally, they were unable to respond to the opponent’s quick attack and fell to 8-10.
However, Ahn Se-young used his unique play to exhaust the opponent and took the lead again to 13-12, and later widened the gap further, taking the first game to 21-15.
Game 2 was a tight match with a fierce rally from the beginning, but Ahn Se-young accumulated points one by one and went on to win 8-0.
Ahn Se-young continued the game while maintaining the lead, and the victory was confirmed when the opponent made a mistake at match point.
The World Tour Finals is a ‘King of Kings’ tournament in which the best players compete in five events organized by BWF this year, including men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The top eight players (groups) in total World Tour points participated in each event.
Ahn Se-young, who collected 10 championship trophies this year and broke the record for most wins (9 wins) in women’s singles in a single season that she set in 2023, is also aiming for the top in the King of Kings Tournament.
If Ahn Se-young wins this tournament, he will tie the record of most wins (11 wins) in a single season set by Kento Momota (men’s singles) of Japan in 2019.
Ahn Se-young will compete for the championship with world No. 2 Wang Ziyi (China) in the final on the 12th.
The world No. 1 men’s doubles team, Won-ho Kim and Seung-jae Seo (Samsung Life Insurance), defeated Indonesia’s team Savar Kariya Gutama and Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 2-0 (21-9 21-11) in the semifinals to advance to the finals.
Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who combined for 10 wins this year, are also challenging the record for most wins in a single season with their 11th win of the season.
Seo Seung-jae achieved 11 wins in this year’s Thailand Masters men’s doubles, including his win with Jin Yong (Yonex). If he wins this tournament, he will set a record for the most wins by an individual in a season with 12 wins.
The women’s doubles world rankings No. 7 Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) won a 2-1 (15-21 21-16 21-19) comeback victory over China’s Ryu Seong-soo and Tanning in the semifinals and advanced to the finals.
Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee, last year’s champions of this competition, are just one step away from winning their second consecutive title in the competition.
[서울=뉴시스]
