Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance) defeated world number two Wang Zhiyi (China) 2-0 in the women’s singles final of the 2026 World Badminton Federation World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, winning her third consecutive title in the tournament.
Praise poured in for ‘Empress’ Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance).
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi (China) 2-0 (21-15 24-22) in the women’s singles final of the ‘2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open’ held at the Asiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 11th (Korean time).
Ahn Se-young, who won her first competition this year, started the new year on a good note. In addition, he successfully defended his title this year following 2024 and 2025, winning the competition for the third time in a row.
Ahn Se-young maintained an overwhelming advantage over Wang Zhiyi with a total record of 17 wins and 4 losses. They won all eight matches last year.
Last year, Ahn Se-young was invincible. He had his best year, tying the record for the most wins in a single season (11 wins), the highest winning percentage (94.8%, 73 wins, 4 losses), and exceeding $1 million in accumulated prize money ($1,003,175).
Ahn Se-young finished the game in just 56 minutes. Ahn Se-young, who won game 1, was greatly pushed down to 9-17 in the middle of game 2, but her attack came back to life and narrowed the score to tie the score at 19-19. After three close deuce matches, he won.
After the game, praise poured in from Malaysian local media. ‘The Star’ reported, “Ahn Se-young has proven that she is the undisputed queen of badminton.”
He added, “Ahn Se-young deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with legendary players,” adding, “He tied the record of three consecutive Malaysian Open wins achieved by Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan) between 2017 and 2019,” adding to the historical significance.
Ahn Se-young’s eyes turn to the ‘Grand Slam’. Having already conquered the World Championships, Asian Games, and Olympics, he will become the second player in history to achieve this feat after Carolina Marin (Spain) by simply winning the Asian Championships trophy in April. Next, they will hunt for their second consecutive win at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held in September.
