(MHN Reporter Lee Hyeon-ah) Chinese media is paying attention to ‘Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) as a key figure symbolizing the current world badminton.
Recently, Sohu, a major Chinese portal site, evaluated Ahn Se-young as ‘a person who symbolizes the current world badminton’ based on his growth background and achievements.
In 2017, when Ahn Se-young was a third-year student at Gwangju Middle School, he was selected for the national team through a transfer, becoming the first middle school student to become the national team member in Korean badminton history. She proved her competitiveness on the adult stage by winning the Irish Open in 2018, and left a strong impression on the world of badminton by defeating Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the finals of the 2019 French Open. In the same year, he won 5 gold medals in one season and won the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ‘Rookie of the Year’ award.
After winning two gold medals in the women’s singles and team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, she defeated China’s He Bingjiao 2-0 in the women’s singles final at the Paris Olympics, giving Korea its first Olympic women’s singles gold medal in 28 years. Regarding Ahn Se-young, who won the women’s singles at the Olympics, World Championships, and Asian Games at the age of 23, the Chinese media said, “World badminton has already entered the era of Ahn Se-young.”
Chinese media introduce Ahn Se-young as the ‘daughter of Gwangju’ along with the modifiers ‘genius girl’ and ‘badminton queen’, and view her as a person who symbolizes structural change in the Korean sports world beyond a simple star player.
In fact, after winning the women’s singles match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he caused a stir by publicly pointing out problems with injury management, hierarchical culture, and resource distribution within the national team. Afterwards, major improvements and reforms were made to the personnel of the Korea Badminton Association, and problems with the players’ equipment and sponsors were gradually resolved.
After establishing a more autonomous training environment and personal team, Ahn Se-young achieved 11 wins in a single season and exceeded $1 million in accumulated prize money, setting a new standard in both athletic performance and commercial value.
Chinese media defined Ahn Se-young as “not just a player who accumulates victories, but also a champion who led changes in the system” and said that he is defining a new era.
Photo = MHN DB
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