Ahn Se-young Wins Indian Open: 6th Title in a Row

Ahn Se-young won the gold medal with a 2-0 game score over Wang Zhiyi in the women’s singles final of the India Open held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in India on the 18th (Korean time). Photo source│Korea Badminton Association Instagram

[스포츠동아 권재민 기자] ‘Shuttlecock Empress’ Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance, world No. 1) won the India Open 2026, winning her second title this season and winning gold medals in six consecutive competitions.

Ahn Se-young defeated Wang Ziyi (China, 2nd place) with a game score of 2-0 (21-13 21-11) in the women’s singles final on the last day of the tournament held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in India on the 18th (Korean time). As a result, Ahn Se-young won gold medals in two consecutive competitions this year, following the Malaysia Open 2026, which ended on the 11th of this month. Last year, starting from the Denmark Open and French Open in October, the Australian Open in November, and the World Tour Finals in December, the top spot was not allowed even once during the six tournaments. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) awarded Ahn Se-young, the winner, a prize money of $66,000 (about 97.39 million won) and 11,000 ranking points.

Ahn Se-young continued her natural relationship with Wang Zi-yi on this day. Before the game, Ahn Se-young had an edge over Wang Zhiyi with 17 wins and 4 losses, including 10 consecutive wins. There were many cases where the team faltered in the beginning and then found the pace in the second half and turned around, but on this day, they pushed Wang Ziyi from the beginning and easily won the victory.

Ahn Se-young intentionally avoided driven clears at the beginning of the first game to prevent Wang Ziyi from attacking with a high RBI. Wang Ziyi, who was unable to land a strong smash, countered with a hairpin and a drop, but it did not work. Ahn Se-young pushed Wang Ziyi with tenacious defense and net fighting, and increased the momentum by scoring 7 consecutive goals at 1-1. At 5-1 and 6-1, the game was easily resolved thanks to Wang Zhiyi’s two consecutive net errors. From 16-13, as Wang Ziyi’s stamina fell, he increased the proportion of driven clears and scored 5 consecutive points with a strategy of deciding the game with drops and semi-smashes, winning 1 game.

The aspects of the 2 games were similar. Seyoung Ahn continued to attack from a low angle, but Wang Ziyi was unable to respond properly. Ahn Se-young succeeded in scoring three consecutive points at the start of the second game, and then scored three points one after another at 10-7 to take the win. At 8-13, Wang Ziyi tried to block Ahn Se-young’s diagonal smash, but when he conceded a point, he closed his eyes tightly as if he sensed defeat. Ahn Se-young, who gained momentum, put an end to the game with two consecutive points at 19-11. When Wang Zhiyi’s backhand receive fell outside the court at 20-11, he clenched his fists, roared, and celebrated the victory by delivering a shuttlecock to the audience.

With Ahn Se-young’s victory, the Korean badminton team ended the India Open with 1 gold and 2 bronze medals (men’s doubles Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju, women’s doubles Lee So-hee and Baek Hana). The national team returned to Korea through Incheon International Airport at 12:45 pm the next day (19th) and continued training at the Jincheon National Team Athletes Village.

Reporter Kwon Jae-min jmart220@donga.com