‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (24, world No. 1, photo) achieved a huge victory in the first game of the new year with her unique concentration. Ahn Se-young defeated Michelle Lee (35, Canada, 12th) 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 21-18) after a fierce battle of 1 hour and 15 minutes in the women’s singles round of 32 of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Malaysia Open (Super 1000) on the 6th.
Before this match held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Lee was an opponent that Ahn Se-young had faced 8 times and defeated all 8 of them. However, Ahn Se-young made a series of mistakes from the beginning of the game and lost the first set. Ahn Se-young, who suffers from chronic knee pain, also appeared to be out of breath while leaning on her knee. They fell behind 6-11 in the second set and were close to defeat.
However, at the moment of crisis, the lying ‘push’ began. Ahn Se-young, who said in a year-end interview with Dong-A Ilbo last year, “I pray for my body to hold on in times of crisis,” scored 7 points in a row right after the break and succeeded in turning the score around 13-11. Then, with the score tied at 16-16, he went down 5 points again to take the second set. They were down 14-16 in the third set, but scored five points in a row to secure victory.
Ahn Se-young, who recovered from the brink of defeat, will challenge for the first ‘Super 1000 Slam’ in BWF World Tour history this year. The goal is to win all four Super 1000 competitions, the highest level in the World Tour. Ahn Se-young attempted the same record last year, but withdrew from the semifinals due to knee pain at the China Open, the last Super 1000 tournament.
Ahn Se-young won the men’s and women’s singles title 11 times, the most, starting with the Malaysia Open, the season opener and first Super 1000 tournament last year. In addition, he collected a total prize money of 1,003,715 dollars (about 1,441.86 million won), becoming the first singles player to exceed 1 million dollars in season prize money.
Ahn Se-young, seeking her third consecutive victory in the tournament, will face Nozomi Okuhara (31st, Japan, 30th) in the round of 16. Ahn Se-young has met Nozomi, the 2017 World Championship champion, three times so far and won all three times.
Reporter Kim Jeong-hoon hun@donga.com
Copyright © Donga Ilbo. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, and use of AI learning are prohibited.
