Ahn Se-young Defeats Chen Yufei: New Badminton Champion Emerges

[스포티비뉴스=조용운 기자] Chinese badminton star Chen Yufei (28, world ranking 4th) took control of the Indonesia Masters stage while Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance) was away.

Chen Yufei achieved a perfect victory with a set score of 2-0 (21-8, 21-6) against Ukraine’s Polina Bukhrova (44th) in the women’s singles round of 32 of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 500 Indonesia Masters held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia on the 21st. Chen Yufei’s firepower, which ended the game in just 27 minutes, was so fierce that it did not even give the opponent a chance to use his hands.

In this tournament, a large number of top players, including Ahn Se-young and Wang Zhiyi (2nd, China), who exhausted their stamina by playing the World Tour Finals at the end of last year, and the Malaysia Open and India Open in succession early this year, chose to take a break. Chen Yufei did not play in the World Tour Finals due to the national quota, so she chose to participate to improve her stamina and practical skills.

In fact, with Chen Yufei’s dominance expected, he warmed up for the win with mechanical accuracy and overwhelming data figures from the first game. From the first game, Chen Yufei pushed Bukhrova hard. Chen Yufei, who had accumulated consecutive points as soon as the game started, took full control by scoring up to five consecutive points. While Bukhrova scored only 8 points, Chen Yufei scored 21 points to close the game.

Game 2 was even more one-sided. Chen Yufei showed incredible concentration by scoring 9 consecutive points, causing Bukhrova to completely lose her fighting spirit. Chen Yufei, who allowed his opponent to score only two consecutive points, ended the game by taking the lead by 21 points in just 27 rallies. Chen Yufei’s offense and defense balance was close to perfect, allowing only 14 points while scoring a total of 42 points.

It is analyzed that this tournament, where Ahn Se-young is taking a break, is the best opportunity for Chen Yu-fei to completely regain confidence. He believes that he and other Chinese rankers will be able to shake off the psychological pressure of being dominated by Ahn Se-young and prove once again their unrivaled game management ability.

Ahn Se-young and Chen Yu-fei’s overall record against each other is 14 wins and 14 losses, making them perfectly balanced. In particular, while Ahn Se-young achieved an overwhelming record of 73 wins and 4 losses last season, Chen Yu-fei suffered two defeats, proving that he is still a natural enemy.

Recently, a match was held in the semifinals of the Malaysia Open, but the big match was ultimately canceled when Chen Yufei decided to withdraw. Although the specific reason was not disclosed, the prevailing view was that the decision was based on physical condition.

With this victory, Chen Yufei easily advanced to the round of 16 and continued her smooth path toward winning the tournament. It is worth paying attention to whether Chen Yu-fei can be called Ahn Se-young’s rival by winning in a clean set in a bracket missing key players.