2025.12.25 07:59
[OSEN=이인환 기자] Is there really a player who can stop Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance)? This is a question that the Chinese badminton world can no longer ignore.
Chinese portal ‘QQ’ focused on Ahn Se-young’s 2025 season on the 24th and asked, “What is the level of dominance of Ahn Se-young, who has set the highest winning percentage in a single season?” and “Is there any Chinese player who can compete with him?” This was the advice that Chinese badminton, which prides itself on being the best in the world, asked itself.
The numbers were sobering. Ahn Se-young played in 77 games this season and won 73 games. Win rate 94.8%. This figure far exceeds the 92% range recorded by men’s singles legends Lin Dan and Lee Chong-wei during their prime. Now, defeat has become an exception, and the fact that Ahn Se-young lost has become news in itself.
Chinese players also have no choice but to acknowledge reality. Wang Ziyi, who faced Ahn Se-young in the final of the 2025 World Tour Finals, failed to smile even once this season. Lost all eight matches. The results did not hide the gap. The content of the game was also assessed as being closer to a ‘complete defeat’ than a ‘close match’.
Nevertheless, Chinese media looked for ‘possibility’ instead of complete resignation. The name at the center is Chen Yupei. The media described Chen Yufei as “the brightest light in the dark.” This is because Chen Yu-fei created half of the four losses that Ahn Se-young allowed this season.
Chen Yu-fei stopped Ahn Se-young’s 27-game winning streak and undefeated streak for the season in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open, and also achieved victory once at the World Championships. At the time, he said, “I stood on the court with the intention to learn rather than the obsession with winning,” emphasizing an approach that focused on the process rather than the result. This is why the Chinese media interpreted this statement meaningfully.
The overall record is also tight. Ahn Se-young and Chen Yu-fei are balanced with 15 wins and 15 losses. This is the background that makes it difficult for China to easily let go of the word ‘opponent.’ However, there are also views that this is an expectation closer to hope rather than a structural solution.
The Chinese media clearly acknowledged that Ahn Se-young has already passed the stage of being a ‘promising star’ and has gone beyond the status of an absolute presence. Now the question is different. The question is whether he can stay at the top for a long time like Lin Dan, or whether the variables of injury and physical strength will hold him back. Ahn Se-young also did not hide the experience of worrying about the end of her career due to a knee injury in the past.
The answer given by China was Chen Yufei. However, a structure that relies on a single name is unstable. In order for Chinese badminton to find a real answer, it is at a point where it must consider generational changes and tactical changes based on Ahn Se-young. China’s question, which acknowledged reality, in itself proved Ahn Se-young’s current status.
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Inhwan Lee ([email protected])
