Ahn Se-young: $4B Era & Indian Open Victory Path

[스포티비뉴스=박대현 기자] Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance) surpassed 4 billion won in accumulated career winnings.

Attention is being paid to whether the first-ever $3 million (approximately 4.4 billion won) era can be opened before this season reaches its turning point. The possibility is not small.

Ahn Se-young will participate in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour India Open (Super 750), which opened in India on the 13th, aiming to win for two consecutive weeks.

On the 11th, at the Malaysia Open, the first tournament of the new year, he defeated Wang Ziyi (China) 2-0 and took the top spot.

He easily won the first competition of this year’s Super 1000 series and showed off his spirit by placing his foot on the top step of the podium in five consecutive competitions, starting with the Denmark Open in October of last year.

According to ‘Badminton Ranks’, which specializes in badminton statistics, Ahn Se-young earned a career total of $2,671,417 (about 3.94 billion won) until last season.

She ranked first in this category, beating ‘Taiwanese shuttlecock queen’ Tai Tzu-ying (retired, $2,595,799), ‘Living Legend’ Viktor Axelsen (Denmark, $2,547,760) in the men’s division, and ‘old enemy’ Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, $2,287,911).

This data was prepared based on the performance of BWF competitions held between 2007 and 2025.

For this reason, the cumulative amount is calculated without including prize money from continental, world championships, and the Olympics.

Two days ago, Ahn Se-young added $101,500 (about 149 million won) in prize money for winning the Malaysia Open, increasing her cumulative total to $2,772,917 (about 4.09 billion won).

He became the first protagonist of the unprecedented ‘4 billion era’.

The current winning prize for the India Open is $665 million (about 98 million won) in singles and $70,300 (103 million won) in doubles.

He is recognized by everyone as a 0-ranked favorite to win the Indian Open.

Ahn Se-young, who set great records last year, including the most wins in a single season (11 wins), the highest winning percentage (94.8%), and the highest accumulated prize money ($1,003,175), is expected to easily conquer the first competition of the new year and continue her dominance in 2026.

The Indian Open’s ‘match-up’ is on a positive note.

The Chinese women’s singles’ big three, Wang Zhiyi, Chen Yufei (4th), and Han Yue (5th), were all placed in the block opposite Ahn Se-young, giving them more time to catch their breath.

In addition, Yamaguchi, who withdrew from the Malaysia Open last week due to an injury, announced that he would not participate in the India Open.

Gao Fangjie (China, 11th in the world), who was considered the most difficult ranker in the match, also withdrew during the round of 32, giving Ahn Se-young the green light to achieve her second win of the season.

Ahn Se-young, who declared an ‘undefeated season’ as her biggest goal this year, is expected to usher in an era of cumulative prize money of $3 million, the first ever in badminton history, at the All England Open (Super 1000) in March if she continues at her current pace. Each step taken by the Korean Empress is soon marked as world badminton ‘history’.