Ahn Se-young: 2026 Badminton Challenge & China Rivalry

[OSEN=고성환 기자] Daejinun has not followed since the new year. Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance) accepted a tough matchup starting from the first international competition in 2026.

Seyoung Ahn is currently training in Malaysia. He left the country with the badminton team on the 31st of last month and is scheduled to participate in the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) starting on the 6th. Afterwards, he will travel to New Delhi, India to participate in the India Open starting on the 13th.

Ahn Se-young is trying to make 2026 her year. He had a memorable year in badminton history last year. Starting with the Malaysia Open in 2025, Ahn Se-young swept the Indian Open, Orleans Masters, All England Open, Indonesia Open, Japan Open, China Masters, Denmark Open, French Open, Australian Open, and World Tour Finals.

As a result, Ahn Se-young became the first player in badminton history to achieve 11 wins in a single season in women’s singles, catching up with the record of most wins (11 wins) set by legendary Japanese men’s singles player Kento Momota in 2019. In addition, he earned $1,003,175 (about 1.452 billion won) in prize money alone, becoming the first player in history to join the $1 million single-season prize money club, and even set a new record for the highest winning percentage of all time at 94.8% (73 wins, 4 losses).

[사진]OSEN DB.

Seyoung Ahn is now scheduled to begin her 2026 schedule starting with the Malaysia Open. However, the matchup did not go as expected. He will clash with world No. 12 Michelle Lee (Canada) in the first round of the round of 32. There is a high possibility that we will continue to face Chinese and Japanese players in the future.

China’s ‘Sohu’ commented, “Ahn Se-young, the world’s No. 1 player, has accepted the ‘bracket of death’. These are strong opponents that she would normally have beaten, but a much more difficult schedule is expected than the other players. It is a match of death where you cannot let down your guard even for a moment from the first round to the final.”

The media pointed out, “Ahn Se-young’s first opponent is Chinese-Canadian Michelle Lee, who is expected to be a very difficult opponent from the first round. In fact, looking at the rankings alone, Ahn Se-young should have met him in the round of 16 or quarter-finals. Michelle Lee has recently achieved good results, including advancing to the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open and Australian Open, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open.”

Of course, the fact that Ahn Se-young and Michelle Lee met was a much bigger misfortune for Michelle Lee. Ahn Se-young boasts an overwhelming record of 8 wins out of 8 against him. He may be a strong opponent in the round of 32, but he is by no means an opponent that would put much pressure on Ahn Se-young.

[사진]OSEN DB.

However, even if Ahn Se-young reaches the round of 16, strong opponents are waiting. In the round of 16 of the match, she will meet Japanese veteran Nozomi Okuhara (World No. 30), and afterward, she is likely to clash with representative Chinese players such as Han Yue (World No. 4), Chen Yufei (World No. 4), and Wang Ziyi (World No. 2).

Sohu explained, “If Ahn Se-young passes the first round, he is expected to face Japan’s strong enemy Okuhara. Okuhara is a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was once ranked No. 1 in the world. He has a wealth of experience and hard-working game management skills, and he recently took third place at the All-Japan Championships.”

The media added, “Ahn Se-young will face even stronger opponents in the future. If he wants to lift the trophy, he will have to go through a difficult finals course in which he must defeat prominent players one by one, starting with Michelle Lee, Okuhara, Han Yue, Chen Yufei, and Wang Zhiyi. This is no different from having to defeat three of China’s top players one after another.”

If Ahn Se-young defeats all of her opponents and rises to the top once again, she will further extend her current winning streak (20 consecutive wins). Sohu said, “A lot of attention is focused on whether Ahn Se-young can overcome such a difficult bracket from the first competition of the new year and win her first championship in 2026.”

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[사진] Korean Badminton Association social media.

Go Seong-hwan ([email protected])