Ahn Se-young: Korean Badminton’s Golden Age

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = The Korean badminton team opened a ‘golden era’ by writing new history in the women’s singles and men’s doubles events this year.

Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), ranked No. 1 in the women’s singles world rankings, lifted the championship trophy at the BWF World Tour Super 500 Australian Open, which ended in Sydney, Australia on the 23rd of last month, becoming the first women’s singles player to reach 10 wins in the season.

Ahn Se-young, who showed off her overwhelming skills, participated in 14 international competitions this season and took the top spot 10 times.

This broke the record for the most wins in women’s singles, which she set in 2023. Seyoung Ahn won the World Championship and eight BWF World Tour competitions at the time.

Seung-jae Seo and Won-ho Kim (Samsung Life Insurance), the men’s doubles ‘golden duo’ who formed their first doubles group last January, also set a new milestone.

The two rose to No. 1 in the world rankings just 7 months after forming the group, and participated in 16 international competitions this year, winning 10 competitions together, including the World Championships.

Seung-jae Seo and Won-ho Kim lifted their 10th championship trophy of the season at the BWF World Tour Super 500 Japan Masters, which ended in Kumamoto, Japan on the 16th of last month.

This achievement tied the record for most wins in a single season in men’s doubles set by China’s Li Yongbo and Tianbing in 1988.

The pair of Ahn Se-young, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho will compete in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals to be held in Hangzhou, China starting on the 17th and attempt to set another record.

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 against each other.

If they win the World Tour Finals, they will be on par with the record of 11 wins in a single season set by Japanese male player Kento Momota in 2019.

If this happens, this season’s world tour stage will virtually end with Korean players alone.

coup@yna.co.kr

▶ Report via KakaoTalk okjebo