Ahn Se-young Collapse: Shock & Mental Breakdown at Indonesia Event

[스타뉴스 | 박건도 기자]

Foreign media also licked their lips at the overwhelming skills of the world No. 1 player. Indonesian media expressed wonder at the extraordinary skills of Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance).

Ahn Se-young defeated Putri Kusuma Wardani (6th place, Indonesia) 2-0 (21-16, 21-8) in 37 minutes in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 India Open held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India on the 16th (Korean time).

After the match, Indonesian media ‘CNN Indonesia’ reported, “Wardani was ultimately eliminated after losing to the champion.”

Another media outlet, ‘Tribune Wow’, said, “Putri was mentally broken by Ahn Se-young. It was a tragic loss,” and added, “In particular, Putri met a tragic fate in the second set, as she was eliminated with a complete loss of 21-8.”

With a perfect victory, Ahn Se-young had an official 28-game winning streak since last year’s Denmark Open. Even in his overall record against Wardani, he maintained an absolute advantage with 8 wins in all matches.

The beginning of the game was a bit uneasy. As soon as the first game started, Ahn Se-young seemed to be weak and allowed 5 consecutive runs, falling to 0-5.

But Ahn Se-young was not embarrassed. After piercing the first score with a sharp straight attack, they started a counterattack with a frightening momentum and quickly tied the score at 7-7.

The score was tied 11-11. Ahn Se-young took the lead by scoring three points with a sharp attack that caught the opponent off guard. Afterwards, they neutralized Wardani’s offensive with their unique sticky defense, widening the score gap, and brought the game to one with a clever attack in a 20-15 set point situation.

The second game, in which the body was completely warmed up, was Ahn Se-young’s solo performance. With a 5-4 lead, they launched a fierce attack and scored 4 points in a row to secure the victory. Wardani was unable to withstand Ahn Se-young’s pressure and recorded consecutive errors.

Ahn Se-young, riding the wave, pulled the reins even further. At 14-8, they showed off their power by dropping as many as 7 points, winning the second game at 21-8, and ending the game in 37 minutes.

Ahn Se-young’s pace in this competition is scary. Previously, in the round of 32, she defeated Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) (21-17, 21-9) in 41 minutes, and in the round of 16, she won 2-0 (21-14, 21-9) in just 31 minutes against Taiwanese rookie Hwang Yu-shun. He is showing great power by not giving up a single set to his opponent in all three games until the quarterfinals.

Last year, Ahn Se-young conquered the world of badminton. Starting with the Malaysia Open in the 2025 season, he swept the three most prestigious Super 1000 level tournaments, including the All England Open and Indonesia Open, and also lifted five trophies in the Super 750 level tournament, which is the same level as this tournament, including the India Open and Japan Open. In addition, he won the World Tour Finals, a king of kings, and achieved a milestone of 11 wins in the season. This ties the BWF record for most wins in a single season set by Kento Momota (Japan) in 2019.

Ahn Se-young, who started 2026 fresh by winning the Malaysia Open, the first tournament of the year, aims to win two consecutive weeks and defend the title until this tournament.

Se-young Ahn’s next opponent, who advanced to the semifinals, is Ratchanok Inthanon (8th place, Thailand). In the opposite match, Wang Zhiyi (2nd place) and Chen Yufei (4th place, China) are fighting for a ticket to the finals.

Reporter Park Geon-do [email protected]