Ahn Se-young (far right) is celebrating with national badminton team coach Park Joo-bong and national team coach Lee Hyeon-il (from the left) after winning 2-1 in the first match of Group A of the BWF World Tour Finals women’s singles group stage against Wardani held at the Olympic Sports Center gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 17th. Photo provided by │Korea Badminton Association
Ahn Se-young (far right) is competing against Wardani in the first match of Group A of the BWF World Tour Finals women’s singles group stage held at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 17th. Ahn Se-young won 2-1. Photo provided by │Korea Badminton Association
Lee So-hee (front) and Baek Hana (back) are facing off against Kong Hee-yong and Kim Hye-jung in the first match of Group B of the BWF World Tour Finals women’s doubles group stage held at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 17th. Lee So-hee and Baek Hana won 2-0. Photo provided by │Korea Badminton Association
‘Shuttlecock Empress’ Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance, No. 1 in the world rankings) and ‘The Great Wall’ Lee So-hee (31) and Baek Hana (25, Incheon International Airport, 7th) declared victory in the first match of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025.
Ahn Se-young started off. Ahn Se-young defeated Putri Kusuma Wardani (Indonesia, 7th place) at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 17th with a score of 2-1 (21-16 8-21 21-8) in the first match of the women’s singles group stage group A on the first day of the tournament. With this, Ahn Se-young recorded 1 win (1 point). On this day, Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, 3rd place), who defeated Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan, 9th place) 2-0, ranked 2nd in game points (Ahn Se-young +1, Yamaguchi +2).
For Ahn Se-young, the World Tour Finals was the first tournament in about a month since the Australian Open on the 23rd of last month (Korean time). In the beginning, the team struggled repeatedly as if they had not yet developed a feel for the game. At the beginning of the first game, they were unable to respond to Wardani’s quick attack and fell to 4-8. However, after scoring four straight points to tie the score, she won the first set with five straight points at 16-16.
Although they lost 2 games, Ahn Se-young was strong in the long game. Tiring Wardani with his unique defense and stamina was effective in three games. He defeated Wardani by scoring 6 points in succession at the start of the 3rd game. When he scored three consecutive points again at 13-4, Wardani closed his eyes as if he sensed defeat.
Lee So-hee and Baek Hana won 2-0 (21-15 21-12) in the first match of the women’s doubles group stage group B match against Gong Hee-yong (29, Jeonbuk Bank) and Kim Hye-jung (27, Samsung Life Insurance, 3rd place) held at the same venue on this day. Lee So-hee and Baek Hana, who recorded 1 win (1 point), have a face-to-face match left against Ryu Seong-soo and Tan Ning (China, 1st place) and Xie Feishan and Heng-an-zi (Taiwan, 9th place).
Lee So-hee and Baek Hana took the lead by scoring 4 points at the start of the first game. When they were down 14-13, they scored four consecutive points again to beat Kong Hee-yong and Kim Hye-jeong. In game 2, he succeeded in earning 1 point by scoring 4 consecutive points at 6-6 and 17-12.
BWF is focusing on Ahn Se-young in this tournament. Ahn Se-young won 10 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals this year, ranking second with the most wins in a BWF single season. If he wins this tournament, he will tie the BWF record for most wins in a single season established by Kento Momota (Japan, retired) in men’s singles in 2019.
With this victory, he maintained the highest winning percentage (94.52%, 69 wins, 4 losses) among players who played more than 60 games in a single season.
Second place is Lin Dan (China, retired, 92.75%, 64 wins, 5 losses) in the 2011 men’s singles. If the current momentum continues, there is a high possibility that the highest win rate will also be confirmed. In this tournament, the 1st and 2nd place winners in the group stage will be given a ticket to the semifinals. The winning rate for a 5-game winning streak is 94.80%. Even if they win after losing one game in the group stage, their winning rate is 93.50%. Even if you pass the group stage with three wins and then lose in the semifinals, you can still set a record. In this case, the win rate is 93.42%.
Reporter Kwon Jae-min jmart220@donga.com
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