Ahn Se-young: Badminton King of Kings – Early Performance

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = Badminton’s ‘strongest’ Se-young Ahn, who is challenging the record for the most wins in a single season, had an uneasy start to the first edition of the World Tour Finals, the last stage of the year.

Ahn Se-young defeated Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani (world No. 7) 2-1 (21-16 8-21 21-8) in the first match of Group A of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 Women’s Singles Group Stage held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 17th.

Seyoung Ahn showed somewhat ups and downs in her performance.

In the first game, the score was tied 16-16 at the end of a seesaw game, and they won 5 points in a row to take the lead 21-16.

However, in the second game, they gave up the momentum from the beginning and struggled throughout the game.

Ahn Se-young, who was ahead 3-1 in the second game, gave up 5 consecutive points to fall to 3-6, and then gave up 10 points in a row at 5-6, losing 8-21.

But game 3 was different. Ahn Se-young, who regained her concentration, tied down her opponent with tenacious defense and swept 6 points from the beginning with a quick attack, widening the score gap to 6-0 and 12-1, and completed the victory by stably maintaining the lead.

Ahn Se-young, who has already won 10 championship trophies this season, will tie the record for most wins in a single season if she wins this competition as well.

He will stand shoulder to shoulder with Japanese men’s singles player Kento Momota, who recorded 11 wins in 2019.

In addition, even if they only advance to the semifinals, the highest single-season winning percentage among players who have played in more than 60 games is rewritten.

Ahn Se-young played 68 games in 15 competitions this season, including the World Tour Finals, and won 64 of them, recording a winning rate of 94.1%.

The BWF World Tour Finals is like the ‘King of Kings’ in the badminton world where the best players of the year gather to compete to compete, and only the top 8 players and groups with the combined annual World Tour points in each event can participate.

Players are divided into groups A and B of four each and compete in the group stage, and the top two players from each group advance to the semifinals to determine the winner.

Ahn Se-young, who holds the overwhelming No. 1 spot in the women’s singles world rankings, competes in Group A with Wardani, Akane Yamaguchi, and Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan).

Ahn Se-young will face Miyazaki in the second match, which will be held on the morning of the 18th.

The men’s doubles ‘golden duo’ Won-ho Kim and Seung-jae Seo defeated Taiwan’s Zhu Xiang-jie and Wang Ji-lin 2-1 (21-19 23-25 ​​21-14) in Group A of the group stage.

Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who entered the battle of kings with an overwhelming first place (129,720 points), a whopping 34,400 points difference from second place in the World Tour rankings, played a fierce game against the Taiwanese group ranked 8th.

Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who had a close match at the beginning of the first game, raised the mood by scoring 4 points in a row when they were behind 11-12, and eventually took the first game by a narrow margin.

Game 2 was even more intense. The match went to deuce three times with back and forth, and in the end, the Taiwanese group won.

However, Korea was ahead of the competition in terms of concentration.

Won-ho Kim and Seung-jae Seo widened the gap by scoring consecutive points in a 5-5 tie, and when the Taiwanese group caught up to 16-14, they swept 5 points in a row, completing their first win in the group stage.

Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who participated in 16 international competitions this year and won 10 competitions including the World Championships, will tie the record for the most wins in a single season if they win this competition, just like Ahn Se-young.

Seungjae Seo, who also won the BWF World Tour Super 300 Thailand Masters with Jinyong (Yonex) earlier this year, has 12 wins in terms of personal record, which is a new record for the most wins by an individual in a season.

Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae will face Indonesia’s Savar Karyaman Gutama and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Isfahani in the second match of the group stage.

In Group B of the women’s doubles group stage, where Korean teams competed, Lee So-hee and Baek Hana (Incheon International Airport) laughed.

The group of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na completely defeated the group of Kim Hye-jeong (Samsung Life Insurance) and Gong Hee-yong (Jeonbuk Bank) 2-0 (21-15 21-12).

The pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, who entered this tournament ranked 2nd in the World Tour rankings, showed a stable performance against the 7th-ranked pair of Kim Hye-jung and Kong Hee-yong.

In game 1, they won easily without giving up the lead even once, and in game 2, they scored 4 consecutive points at 17-12, putting an end to the game.

Women’s doubles Group B also includes Liu Shengsu-Tan Ning (China) and Xie Feishan-Hong An-zi (Taiwan).

The team of Kim Hye-jung and Gong Hee-yong will face off against the Taiwanese team on the 18th, while the team of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na will clash with the Chinese team.

coup@yna.co.kr

▶ Report via KakaoTalk okjebo