Ahn Se-young: Mixed Practice for Badminton Growth?

[스포티비뉴스=장하준 기자] Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance), the world’s strongest badminton women’s singles player, did not stop in the face of frustration. Rather, using the bitter defeat as a stepping stone, they chose to evolve once again, and that choice led to records and results.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on its official social media on the 2nd (Korean time), “Ahn Se-young had to accept results that did not meet expectations at the 2025 Paris World Championships. However, he used that experience as motivation to continue his historic move.”

The most painful memory for Ahn Se-young was the women’s singles semifinal at the World Championships held in Paris, France in August last year. He failed to advance to the finals, losing 0-2 (15-21, 17-21) against China’s Chen Yufei. In particular, the loss was even more disappointing because it was the result of consecutive losses to Chen Yufei.

Previously, Ahn Se-young was defeated by Chen Yu-fei in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open in May 2024, ending her 27-game winning streak in international competitions. Afterwards, he failed to seek revenge on the World Championships stage again and was under quite a bit of psychological pressure.

However, this loss did not derail Ahn Se-young’s career. In a BWF interview, he reflected, “After finishing the World Championships, I felt very frustrated with myself. I held on to that feeling and tried to resolve it one by one by focusing on training again.”

He continued, “As a player, it is natural to want to win many titles. I want to complete the Grand Slam goal I have been talking about once again,” and added, “My task now is to develop a faster and more stable style of play. It is not something that can be achieved overnight, so I have to keep trying and work hard until the results come out.”

Ahn Se-young has already reached most of the heights possible in women’s badminton singles. Starting with winning the 2023 World Championships, he also won gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has established himself as an athlete who has conquered the World Championships, Asian Games, and Olympics.

The last remaining puzzle was the Asian Championships. Seyoung Ahn will complete her individual career Grand Slam if she wins the Asian Championships to be held in China in April. It is one of the greatest records in the history of badminton women’s singles.

Ahn Se-young asserted that her prime has not yet arrived. He was changing his training methods to reach a higher level. Recently, sparring with male athletes has been actively introduced to provide new stimulation.

Se-young Ahn explained, “I often practice with male players to change my playing style. Since male players are stronger in terms of speed and power, it helps improve my sense of real-life play.” He added, “Currently, I want to further improve the offensive aspects.”

He also said, “I think the most important thing is to maintain the defense and stamina that I have built up so far while growing at least a little. As the opposing players prepare various tactics to attack me, I am always thinking about changing my play accordingly.”

These efforts showed immediate results. After losing at the World Championships, Ahn Se-young won the China Masters, Denmark Open, French Open, and Australian Open in order, and also reached the top of the World Tour Finals, the final stage of the season. Through this, he completed his 11th career win in the 2025 season.

This was an achievement on par with the record for most wins in a single season set by Kento Momota of Japan in 2019. Ahn Se-young, who turned frustration into growth, once again engraved her name in badminton history.