▲ Ahn Se-young, who showed off the majesty of the world’s No. 1 ranking and broke the opponent’s will to chase, is now rewriting badminton history with her 27th consecutive win. Ahn Se-young, who has set the goal of winning the entire season, will soon begin her second consecutive week at the top. ⓒYonhap News/AFP
[스포티비뉴스=조용운 기자] Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance), who reigns as an absolute powerhouse on the badminton court, is ready to declare her era once again in India.
Ahn Se-young defeated Japan’s veteran Nozomi Okuhara (30th) with a set score of 2-0 in the women’s singles round of 32 of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 India Open held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India on the 14th.
Ahn Se-young, who pressured her opponent from the beginning of the game, needed only 41 minutes to secure victory. With this win, Ahn Se-young maintained an overwhelming lead over Okuhara in all five matches, further solidifying their relationship with Okuhara.
Okuhara is by no means an easy opponent. He is a legend who represented an era, winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships. Now, Ahn Se-young has surpassed both Okuhara’s speed and performance, earning an easy victory for two weeks in a row.
Ahn Se-young, who had caught Okuhara in about 40 minutes at the previous Malaysia Open, also defeated her opponent today with her excellent defense. At the beginning of the first game, Okuhara’s skillful game management allowed the lead to be briefly 16-17, but Ahn Se-young did not panic. After blocking all of the opponent’s decisive attacks with their unique, tenacious net defense, they showed off their fierce backs and took the lead at 21-17.
▲ Ahn Se-young, who showed off the majesty of the world’s No. 1 ranking and broke the opponent’s will to chase, is now rewriting badminton history with her 27th consecutive win. Ahn Se-young, who has set the goal of winning the entire season, will soon begin her second consecutive week at the top. ⓒYonhap News
The second game that continued the momentum was Ahn Se-young’s solo performance. Ahn Se-young, who ran away with a 10-3 lead from the beginning, ended the game with an overwhelming score of 21-9 without allowing a single crisis.
Ahn Se-young ran away with his 26th consecutive win. The winning streak that began at last year’s Denmark Open continues with no signs of stopping. Ahn Se-young will now face Taiwan’s Huang Yu-shun (ranked 40th) in the round of 16, and if she wins this game, she will match the season’s record of 27 consecutive wins she set last year. He is also within sight of 33 consecutive wins, which is his personal record.
Last year, Ahn Se-young’s 27-game winning streak from January to May at the Singapore Open was unfortunately cut short by Chen Yu-fei (4th place, China). You can get a glimpse of Ahn Se-young’s strengths. If the infinite sprint is blocked, the team can easily fall into a slump, but they regrouped and achieved an amazing record of 73 wins and 4 losses last year.
From the Denmark Open, where the current winning streak began, to the French Open, Australian Open, World Tour Finals, and Malaysia Open, he has already succeeded in winning five tournaments in a row. As a result, Ahn Se-young achieved a cumulative prize money of $2.77 million (about 4.1 billion won). If the prize money of winning this tournament, $66,500 (approximately 98.3 million won), is added, the total career total will soon exceed 4.2 billion won.
▲ Ahn Se-young’s incredible determination in the second set, when he was close to defeat, was enough to prove once again why he is ranked No. 1 in the world. In particular, they strengthened their relationship as natural enemies by repeating the victory over Wang Zhiyi by overturning the 8-point gap. ⓒYonhap News/AP
Of course, this does not mean there are no concerns. We have to overcome the grueling schedule that has continued since the end of last year. He also complained of physical strain during the process of winning the Malaysia Open, the previous tournament.
Fortunately, luck is with us in this India Open. His opponent in the round of 16, Huang Yushun, is no match for Ahn Se-young in terms of objective power. There is a high possibility that the game time will be shortened. In addition, due to good luck, we have the optimal environment to manage our physical strength.
Ahn Se-young, who was also the champion of this competition last year, is pursuing two birds with one stone: defending her title and breaking her own record. Ahn Se-young’s round of 16 match at the India Open will be broadcast live on sports channel SPOTV Prime and sports OTT service SPOTV Now at around 4pm on the 15th.
▲ Ahn Se-young, who showed off the majesty of the world’s No. 1 ranking and broke the opponent’s will to chase, is now rewriting badminton history with her 27th consecutive win. Ahn Se-young, who has set the goal of winning the entire season, will soon begin her second consecutive week at the top. ⓒYonhap News/AP
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