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The Badminton World Federation (BWF) focused on Ahn Se-young’s records this season. /Photo = Badminton World Federation (BWF) official social networking service (SNS)
Ahn Se-young is roaring after winning the women’s singles title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 11th (Korean time). /AFPBBNews=News1
‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance) announced her unwavering dominance by taking the top spot from the first competition of the new year. Wang Zhiyi (World No. 2, China), who was his opponent in the finals, was once again blocked by Ahn Se-young and failed to win.
Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi (China) 2-0 (21-15, 24-22) in the women’s singles final of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 11th (Korean time).
With this, Ahn Se-young achieved the feat of winning the competition three times in a row, following 2024 and 2025. Ahn Se-young, who recorded eight consecutive wins against Wang Zhi last year, ran a nine-game winning streak against Wang Zhi with today’s victory, further solidifying their natural enemy relationship. The overall record stands at 17 wins and 4 losses.
The local Chinese people were in despair. Chinese media ‘Sina Sports’ reported, “Wang Zhiyi lost after two sets of fierce battles. She unfortunately lost to the world number one and failed to win the Malaysia Open.”
Se-young Ahn is posing at the awards ceremony after winning the women’s singles at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 11th (Korean time). /AFPBBNews=News1
Seyoung Ahn (left) is posing after receiving an award at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025 Gala Dinner held in Hangzhou, China. /Photo = Badminton World Federation (BWF) official social networking service (SNS)
In addition, the media reported in detail the painful come-from-behind loss process, saying, “Wang Ziyi had a close match until the middle of the first set, but then broke down by giving up 7 points in a row. In particular, in the 2nd set, even though he led by 8 points to 17-9, he allowed the score to be tied at 19-19 due to Ahn Se-young’s fierce pursuit. After a close deuce match, he missed three game points and lost 22-24.”
The reaction of Chinese fans was cold, closer to resignation. Chinese fans commented on ‘Sina Sports’, “This was expected. Ahn Se-young is too big of a wall,” and “Seeing the big score gap being overturned, it’s not just a technical problem for Wang Ziyi. He lacks the resilience to overcome pressure.” Crude criticism continued, saying, “Wang Ziyi is the example of mental breakdown.”
In fact, on this day’s game, there was a stark contrast between Ahn Se-young’s steel mentality and Wang Ziyi’s glass mentality.
Ahn Se-young, who was down 1-6 at the beginning of the first game, did not panic and chased down, turning the game around to 12-11. Once Ahn Se-young gained momentum, she did not hold back. After running away with a 17-11 lead, they took the first game with back-to-back scores at 19-15.
The deciding factor was two games. Ahn Se-young had a mistake in the middle of the match and fell behind by 8-14 and 13-19, leaving her defeated.
Ahn Se-young, who eventually won the championship after overcoming thigh pain, is kissing the trophy. /AFPBBNews=News1
But Ahn Se-young did not give up. Wang Ziyi, conscious of victory, did not miss the moment of trembling and launched an onslaught, eventually tying the score at 19-19.
In the end, Ahn Se-young finished the game in two games. In a close deuce match, Wang Zhiyi’s attack was caught in the net, and Ahn Se-young, who took the match point at 23-22, roared with victory in the final rally.
Ahn Se-young dominated world badminton last year. Starting with the 2025 season Malaysia Open, he swept three Super 1000 level competitions, including the All England Open and Indonesia Open, and even five Super 750 level competitions, including the India Open and Japan Open. In addition, he also lifted the World Tour Finals trophy, 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 is kissing the trophy after winning the women’s singles title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 11th (Korean time). /AFPBBNews=News1
Ahn Se-young, winner of the 2025 BWF Player of the Year Award in women’s singles. /Photo = Badminton World Federation (BWF) official social networking service (SNS)
The purity of the records is also surprising. Even in a forced march of 77 games last year, Ahn Se-young achieved 73 wins while allowing only 4 losses. The win rate reached a whopping 94.8%, setting a new BWF record for the highest win rate in a single season.
They even set a record for amazing prize money. Ahn Se-young made new history by becoming the first player in BWF history to exceed $1 million in prize money in a single season. In addition to the winning prize money from the World Tour Finals, he earned a cumulative prize money of $1,003,175 (about 1.438 billion won). She was then selected as BWF Female Player of the Year for three consecutive years and Player of the Year chosen by her peers for two consecutive years, becoming the undisputed queen of badminton.
Seyoung Ahn is celebrating after winning the BWF World Tour Finals 2025 women’s singles. /AFPBBNews=News1
Seyoung Ahn is struggling with thigh pain in the BWF World Tour Finals on the 21st. /AFPBBNews=News1
Reporter Park Geon-do pgd15412@mtstarnews.com
