(MHN Reporter Lee Hyun-ah) The Badminton World Federation (BWF) virtually declared ‘Ahn Se-young invincible’.
According to BWF, there are currently only about four players in the world who can stop ‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), and their overwhelming dominance, represented by 11 wins and a 94.8% winning rate, has been officially recognized. Major Chinese media also highly praised Ahn Se-young’s skills in women’s singles based on BWF’s official records and evaluations.
On the 5th, Chinese media outlet Baidu cited BWF’s official evaluation and performance and focused on Ahn Se-young’s overwhelming performance and technical perfection in the women’s singles.
BWF recently predicted the 2026 season women’s singles landscape on its official website and assessed, “Currently, there are only about four players in the world who can stop Ahn Se-young’s dominance.” This means that the highest body has effectively acknowledged that Ahn Se-young’s status, which established a ruling system with 11 world tour wins last year, will continue until 2026.
Ahn Se-young won 11 times in 15 competitions in the 2025 season, recording a win rate of 94.8%, achieving a figure that even Lin Dan and Lee Chong-wei could not surpass. In the final match of the season, the World Tour Finals, he defeated Wang Zhiyi (China) and took the top spot, opening the era of $1 million in single season prize money.
Even amidst the praise, Ahn Se-young did not rest on her laurels. In an interview on BWF’s official YouTube channel, he said, “Looking back at the World Championships, there were some disappointments in terms of performance,” and explained the reason for choosing joint training with male athletes. Se-young Ahn added, “We are improving our sense of real-life combat by responding to faster and stronger hitting balls than female players.” The strategy is to sharpen the attack edge based on impeccable defense and physical strength.
BWF’s mention of ‘four people’ not only revealed expectations for a competitive structure, but also reaffirmed Ahn Se-young’s overwhelming dominance. In fact, he recorded 73 wins and 4 losses last year, with losses only allowed to Chen Yufei (China) and Akane Yamaguchi (Japan). BWF added, “We see few new challengers that could threaten him in 2026.”
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