Ahn Se-young: Pressure on the World No. 1 Badminton Star

[OSEN=진천, 이대선 기자] On the 17th, the Korea National Badminton Team Media Day was held at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in North Chungcheong Province. Ahn Se-young, a member of the badminton team, is taking a break after training. 2025.06.17 /[email protected]

[OSEN=우충원 기자] The schedule burden for world-class players, including Ahn Se-young, is expected to increase further. As the operating method of the Super 1000 competition has changed significantly, the number of games and physical strength consumption for top ranked players has increased.

Badminton BB, a badminton media outlet, said on social media on the 25th (Korean time), “2026 will be the last season in which the four major World Tour Super 1000 competitions will be held under the existing operating system.” Accordingly, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) will completely revamp the structure of the Super 1000 competition from 2027.

Currently, in the singles event of the Super 1000 competition, the top 32 players in the world rankings enter the tournament directly without preliminaries. However, from 2027, the number of participants will increase to 48. They are divided into 16 groups of three and play in the group stage, and only the top player from each group advances to the tournament. Naturally, the competition period will be significantly extended from 6 days to 11 days.

The problem is the increase in the number of games. In the old system, only 5 games were needed to win the championship, but in the new system, 2 group stage games and 4 tournament games must be played, increasing the number of games to a maximum of 6 games. Considering the nature of Super 1000, where the intensity of each game is extremely high, the burden is not light at all.

[OSEN=밀양, 이석우 기자] The 105th National Sports Festival badminton competition was held at the Miryang Badminton Stadium in Gyeongsangnam-do on the 9th. This year’s National Sports Festival will be held from the 11th to the 17th at 75 stadiums, including Gimhae Sports Complex in Gyeongnam, with 47 official events and 2 demonstration events. Busan Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) is competing against Incheon Shim Yu-jin (Incheon International Airport Corporation Skymons). 2024.10.09 / [email protected]

[OSEN=밀양, 이석우 기자] The 105th National Sports Festival badminton competition was held at the Miryang Badminton Stadium in Gyeongsangnam-do on the 9th. This year’s National Sports Festival will be held from the 11th to the 17th at 75 stadiums, including Gimhae Sports Complex in Gyeongnam, with 47 official events and 2 demonstration events. Busan Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) is competing against Incheon Shim Yu-jin (Incheon International Airport Corporation Skymons). 2024.10.09 / [email protected]

In particular, it is a direct hit to a top ranker like Ahn Se-young. According to BWF regulations, players ranked 1st to 15th in the men’s and women’s singles world rankings are virtually required to participate in all Super 1000 competitions, all Super 750 competitions, and even the World Tour Finals. There is little choice.

The 2026 schedule is not easy. Seyoung Ahn will take only a short break immediately after finishing the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals and begin the new season with the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in early January. Afterwards, they must immediately participate in the India Open (Super 750) held in New Delhi, India.

This also overlaps with the Asian Games schedule in September. Team and singles events must be held back to back, and if you add the Uber Cup at the beginning of the new year, it is inevitable that you will have to compete in at least 17 competitions a year. In fact, it is a schedule with no rest months.

[OSEN=진천, 이대선 기자] On the 17th, the Korea National Badminton Team Media Day was held at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in North Chungcheong Province. Ahn Se-young, a member of the badminton team, is catching her breath during training. 2025.06.17 /[email protected]

In this situation, the Super 1000 competition itself will become longer and more difficult from 2027. Performance management and injury prevention are expected to become more important tasks than ever for the world’s top athletes, including Ahn Se-young. It may become clear whether the schedule reorganization was a choice for ‘box office success’, but it seems clear that the burden on players is rapidly increasing. / [email protected]

Woo Choong-won ([email protected])