Ahn Se-young Wins: Advances to Quarterfinals | 2026 Badminton

[스타뉴스 | 박건도 기자]

Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance), ranked No. 1 in the badminton women’s singles world rankings, overcame the physical burden and continued her challenge for the championship in the round of 16 of the first competition of the 2026 season.

Ahn Se-young won with a game score of 2-0 (21-17, 21-7) against Nozomi Okuhara (Japan, 30th) in the round of 16 of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 10 am (Korean time) on the 8th.

On this day, Ahn Se-young struggled at the beginning of the game, showing somewhat heavy movements. After scoring the first goal, they allowed consecutive goals to fall to 5-9, and eventually went into the interval trailing 8-11. It was such a difficult flow that Ahn Se-young could be seen sighing on the broadcast screen.

Veteran Okuhara, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and former world No. 1, attacked Ahn Se-young by inducing a drive match.

In a crisis situation, Ahn Se-young changed her strategy to use the court widely. Okuhara’s stamina was reduced with shots hitting both left and right. Ahn Se-young, who tied the score at 15-15 after a persistent chase, succeeded in reversing the game to 16-15 by inducing an opponent’s mistake. Afterwards, Ahn Se-young displayed his unique decisiveness and scored consecutive points from 17, and finished game 1 21-17 with a perfect smash.

Game 2 was overwhelming. Ahn Se-young took the lead early by scoring 11 points in a row. Okuhara, whose will to chase was broken, eventually realized the difference in skill and gave up the game. Ahn Se-young succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals by winning two games in a one-sided manner.

However, Ahn Se-young’s physical strength issues are constantly being discussed in this competition. In the first round (round of 32) held on the 6th, she won 2-1 (19-21 21-16 21-18) after a fierce battle of 1 hour and 15 minutes against Michelle Lee (Canada), ranked 12th in the world.

At that time, Ahn Se-young was on the court for 75 minutes, pouring out all her stamina, and because she returned to the game two days later, her recovery did not appear to be complete.

This is the aftermath of last season’s forced march. Ahn Se-young won 11 crowns, including winning the BWF World Tour Finals last year, setting a record for the most wins (11 wins), the highest winning percentage (94.8%), and accumulated prize money exceeding $1 million (approximately KRW 1.4 billion). However, he played 77 games (3,479 minutes), the second most after Wang Ziyi (China), and entered the new season after only two weeks of rest after the last competition.

Reporter Park Geon-do pgd15412@mtstarnews.com