[스포티비뉴스=박대현 기자] Even if you stay still, the throne does not shake. Rather, only competitors are becoming more anxious.
China’s ‘QQ News’ wrote on the 30th, “Shuttlecock queen Ahn Se-young is firmly maintaining the No. 1 spot in the women’s singles world rankings based on an overwhelming ranking point gap. On the other hand, Chinese ace Chen Yufei (world’s 3rd) has begun a fierce pursuit, but analysis has been raised (centered on the Korean media) that she has taken a strategic move to ‘avoid Ahn Se-young.'”
According to the latest women’s singles rankings announced by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on the 27th, Ahn Se-young easily took the top spot on the list with 117,270 points.
The gap with second place Wang Ziyi (China, 103,362 points) is about 14,000 points. It is at the level of an ‘insurmountable wall’ that is difficult to catch up with in a short period of time.
After winning the Malaysia Open and India Open in succession at the beginning of the season, Ahn Se-young skipped the Indonesia Masters last week to improve her condition.
Even though she had built up her stamina through ‘selection and concentration’, she had no problem maintaining the women’s singles crown thanks to the enormous points she had already accumulated. This is why the prospect that Ahn Se-young’s solo regime will continue for the time being is gaining strength.
▲ Screenshot of China’s ‘QQ News’ homepage
An interesting change occurred in third place. While Ahn Se-young was taking a break, Chen Yu-fei swept the Indonesia Masters and jumped to third place in the world (94,635 points).
‘The line to overthrow Ahn Se-young’ pushed fellow jockey Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, 93,064 points) to fourth place and rejoined the top three.
Some believe that Chen Yufei’s rapid rise is the result of careful calculation. According to the current ranking system, if she stays in 3rd or 4th place, there is a high possibility that she will face Ahn Se-young early in the semifinals of major competitions such as the All England Open.
It is analyzed that China is adopting a strategy to raise Chen Yu-fei to second place in the world and place her in a different ‘block’ from Ahn Se-young from the draw in order to avoid a ‘civil war’ or excessive physical consumption among the country’s ranked players before the finals.
Meanwhile, Korean badminton continued its strength not only in women’s singles but also in doubles. The men’s doubles pair of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae (Samsung Life Insurance) further solidified their top status by widening the gap with the second-place team by more than 26,000 points.
The pair of Ahn Se-young, Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who are currently taking a short break, will compete in the Asian Men’s and Women’s Team Championships to be held in Qingdao, China on the 3rd of next month and swing their rackets toward the gold medal once again.
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