‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (23, world No. 1)’s opponent in the finals has been decided. This is Wang Zhiyi (25), a Chinese badminton star who is ranked second in the world.
Ahn Se-young won 2-0 (21-15 21-12) against Japan’s ace Akane Yamaguchi (world ranking 4th) in the semifinals (semi-finals) of the 2025 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Final held at the Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on the 19th.
They defeated Yamaguchi at 12-12 in game 1, and ultimately won after taking a 20-15 lead. In the second game, he used a powerful smash attack to score eight consecutive points against Yamaguchi, who had lost his fighting spirit. In the end, they achieved a shutout victory in 38 minutes.
As a result, Ahn Se-young is only one win away from her long-awaited 11th win of the season.
There was also a crisis before Ahn Se-young advanced to the finals. In particular, in the third game of Group A held the previous day (19th), they lost 14-21 against Yamaguchi and gave up one game. However, after winning 21-5 in game 2, they won 21-14 in game 3, taking first place in the group and advancing to the semifinals.
And in the rematch with Yamaguchi (semifinals) held again just one day later, he was able to secure a perfect victory with a game score of 2-0 and advance to the finals.
There is a reason why the match with Yamaguchi was important. This was because their overall record against opponents was 15 wins and 15 losses before these two games. In the meantime, it seemed like they were exposing their psychological instability by giving up the first game, but in the end, they were able to smile as they took all 4 games. With an opponent record of 17 wins and 15 losses, Ahn Se-young now has the upper hand. Ahn Se-young also had the upper hand in this season’s head-to-head record with 3 wins and 1 loss.
The opponent in the finals was confirmed to be Wang Ziyi. In another semifinal that followed, Wang Ziyi defeated Ratchanok Inthanon (Thailand) 2-1 (15-21 21-17 21-11) and advanced to the finals.
Wang Zhiyi is a women’s badminton singles powerhouse ranked second in the world. It is just below Ahn Se-young’s world ranking. However, the difference in skills is such that it feels like a ‘wall’. The unusual opponent record speaks for itself. This is because Ahn Se-young is significantly ahead of Wang Zhiyi this year with 7 wins in all of their matches. Ahn Se-young’s overall record against opponents is also superior with 15 wins and 4 losses. It is true that Ahn Se-young is so dominant that it is hard to believe that it is a match between the world number one and number two. This means that it is no exaggeration to say that Ahn Se-young is currently the strongest singles player in women’s badminton.
This World Tour Finals competition is a ‘King of Kings’ type competition in which the eight players with the best results in five events (men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles) hosted by BWF this year compete for the championship. The eight players (groups) with the highest World Tour points for each event participated. After the four players are divided into groups A and B and play the group stage, the first and second place players from each group advance to the semifinals and determine the final winner.
Seyoung Ahn This is the first time in four years that she has attempted to win the World Tour Finals. If he wins this tournament, he will match the record of most wins (11 wins) in a single season set by Japanese male player Kento Momota in 2019.
As the ‘Badminton Empress’, Ahn Se-young is already building a wall that cannot be overcome. From January to November this year, he participated in a total of 14 competitions and lifted a whopping 10 championship trophies. He achieved double-digit wins by winning 3 BWF Super 1000 tournaments (Malaysia Open, All England Open, Indonesia Open), 5 wins at Super 750 tournaments (India Open, Japan Open, China Masters, Denmark Open, French Open), 1 win at Super 500 tournaments (Australian Open), and 1 win at Super 300 tournaments (Orléans Masters). Ahn Se-young was the first female singles player to achieve double-digit wins in a year. The previous record was 9 wins, which he personally set in 2023.
Based on this great performance, Ahn Se-young received the honor of being selected as BWF Female Athlete of the Year for three consecutive years. At the BWF Gala Awards held in Hangzhou, China on the 15th, he defeated prominent competitors such as Wang Zhiyi, Chen Yufei (5th place, China), and Yamaguchi and rose to the top position. Will Ahn Se-young overcome even Wang Ziyi and reach her peak in 2025?
