China lamented the skills of ‘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 the first competition this year, successfully defended her title again this year in 2024 and 2025, winning three consecutive competitions.
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. On the other hand, Wang Ziyi, who was unable to maintain the 8-point lead, lowered his head with a dejected expression.
As a result, Ahn Se-young continued her overwhelming advantage over Wang Zhiyi with a total record of 17 wins and 4 losses. They won all eight matches last year.
‘Badminton Planet’, a global badminton media outlet, reported, “While An Se-young expanded her dominance, Wang Ziyi suffered a ‘mental breakdown’ in the finals.”
In fact, the second set was a nightmare for Wang Ziyi. Even though they led by a large score until the middle of the set, they quickly faltered as Ahn Se-young’s offensive intensified. The media commented, “Despite having a huge lead in the second set, Wang Zhiyi was unable to overcome the pressure and collapsed.”
Chinese fans also expressed disappointment. According to China’s largest social media (SNS) ‘Weibo’, netizens of Woong Guk say, ‘Wang Ziyi has a heart of glass.’ He said, ‘Why on earth can’t we finish the game against a Korean star?’
