Ahn Se-young Dominates: 21-6 Win & Semifinal Spot

[파이낸셜뉴스] I didn’t even need time to wipe my sweat. ‘Shuttlecock Empress’ Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance) dominated the court with overwhelming skills and showed off her might as the world’s greatest. The opponent was Japan’s rising star Tomoka Miyazaki, but in front of Ahn Se-young, he seemed like nothing more than a practice partner.

Ahn Se-young defeated Miyazaki with a set score of 2-0 (21-9 21-6) in the second match of the women’s singles group A of the ‘2025 BWF World Tour Finals’ held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 18th.

Ahn Se-young, who finished the warm-up the day before by playing a full set against Indonesia’s Wardani, was on ‘full accelerator’ from the start on this day.

As soon as the perfect Showtime match started, Ahn Se-young’s racket burst into flames. A characteristic sharp half-smash tenaciously penetrated Miyazaki’s left corner of the court. The score gap quickly widened to 19-9, and the first set ended in just 16 minutes.

The second set was even more brutal. Ahn Se-young freely threw shuttlecocks as if she was dancing on the court. When Miyazaki moved to block Ahn Se-young’s diagonal attack, the shuttlecock was already in the empty space on the other side. 14-4, 10 point lead. The game was managed so perfectly that the opponent lost his will to fight. In the end, Miyazaki made a mistake at 20-6 match point, and the game ended in 33 minutes. It was Empress Shuttlecock’s ‘true education’.

Ahn Se-young, who has already confirmed her advancement to the semifinals with two wins in Group A, has her sights set on higher ground. This is the tie record for ‘most wins in a single season (11 wins)’. This season, Ahn Se-young was truly ‘untouchable’. He swept the trophies in 10 of the 14 competitions he participated in from January to November. He collected championship trophies regardless of the level, including BWF Super 1000, 750, and 500, and did not miss the No. 1 spot in the world rankings all year long.

Ahn Se-young has already been selected as ‘BWF Female Athlete of the Year’ for three consecutive years and has been recognized as the strongest player in existence. Now all that’s left is ‘Hwaryongjeomjeong’. If the championship trophy is added in this tournament, it will be on par with the most wins in a single season (11 wins) set by Kento Momota (Japan) in 2019.

Ahn Se-young will play the final group stage match against her ‘old enemy’ Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) on the 19th.

However, at the current momentum, it seems that no matter who comes up, it will not be enough to stop Ahn Se-young’s ‘Last Dance’. Badminton fans around the world are waiting with bated breath for a new history to be born from the tip of Ahn Se-young’s racket.

jsi@fnnews.com Reporter Jeon Sang-il