Defeated Michelle Lee in the round of 32 of the Malaysia Open
Next opponent: World Championship winner Nozomi
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Seyoung Ahn.
News 1
Badminton queen Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), born in 2002, achieved a thrilling come-from-behind victory after a fierce battle for 75 minutes in the first tournament in the year of Byeong-oh.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in women’s singles, defeated Canada’s Michelle Lee 2-1 (19-21 21-16 21-18) in the round of 32 of the Malaysia Open (Super 1000), the opening tournament of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2026 season world tour held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 6th.
Ahn Se-young, who was recording a total of eight wins against Lee, ranked 12th in the world, got off to an uneasy start, making a series of mistakes as if she had not recovered from the fatigue from participating in the World Tour Finals last month. Ahn Se-young’s concentration recovered from the middle of the first game, but it was not enough to make up for the large number of goals conceded early in the game.
Game 2 also got off to a shaky start. Ahn Se-young appeared to be in poor health, leaning on her knees and gasping for breath. However, right after the interval, when the team was behind 6-11, Ahn Se-young’s attack began to revive. He quickly turned the game around by scoring 7 points, and with the score tied 16-16, he scored 5 consecutive points to win 2 games.
In game 3, a close match continued, but Ahn Se-young’s spirit shone brighter. Ahn Se-young, who was down 14-16, scored 5 consecutive points to win 19-16, and put an end to the long game without allowing a comeback.
Ahn Se-young won the men’s and women’s singles title a record 11 times last year, but this year’s first tournament bracket is evaluated as a ‘match of death.’ Her opponent in the round of 16 is Nozomi Okuhara (Japan), winner of the 2017 World Championships. In terms of opponent, Ahn Se-young has won all three matches, but Nozomi is also a strong player who was once ranked number one in the world.
If Ahn Se-young defeats Nozomi, her opponent in the quarterfinals is likely to be world number 5 Han Yue (China). Then, in the semifinals, it is expected that she will meet Chen Yufei (China), ranked 4th in the world, who is tied with Ahn Se-young with a record of 14 wins, 14 losses, and 14 losses. In the finals, it is highly likely that she will face world number two Wang Zhiyi (China), who shed tears last year after losing all eight games to Ahn Se-young.
Reporter Park Seong-guk
2026-01-07 Page 28
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