Seyoung Ahn. AFP = Yonhap News
‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) challenges to win the Malaysia Open, the first tournament of the season.
Ahn Se-young will face world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi (China) in the finals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 1 p.m. on the 11th, Korean time.
If Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, defeats Wang Zhiyi, she will achieve her third consecutive victory in the tournament, following her wins in 2024 and 2025.
Seyoung Ahn announces her strong challenge for a new record if she wins this competition.
Ahn Se-young set great records last year, including the most wins in a single season (11 wins), the highest winning percentage ever (94.8%), and the highest accumulated prize money ever ($1,003,175).
(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Hong Ki-won = Ahn Se-young is playing against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles final of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 500 Korea Open held at Suwon Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do on the 28th. <저작권자 ⓒ 1980~2025 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지, AI 학습 및 활용 금지>” class=”thumb_g_article” data-org-src=”https://t1.daumcdn.net/news/202601/11/ilgansports/20260111060245170ihgh.jpg” data-org-width=”800″ dmcf-mid=”W2Oj6cQ9Io” dmcf-mtype=”image” height=”auto” src=”https://img4.daumcdn.net/thumb/R658x0.q70/?fname=https://t1.daumcdn.net/news/202601/11/ilgansports/20260111060245170ihgh.jpg” width=”658″/>
However, he unfortunately missed the record of last year’s ‘Super 1000 Grand Slam’. ‘Super 1000 Slam’ means winning four Super 1000 series competitions in one year. There has never been a player in BWF history who has achieved this. The Super 1000 tournament is the highest-level tournament with the highest ranking points and prize money among the BWF World Tour, and includes the Malaysia Open, which was promoted to 2023, as well as the All England Open, Indonesia Open, and China Open. Se-young Ahn unfortunately missed the ‘Super 1000 Slam’ after withdrawing from the semifinals of the China Open, the last 1000 series tournament last year, due to knee pain.
The current atmosphere is good. Ahn Se-young holds an advantage over Wang Zhiyi with a total of 16 wins and 4 losses. They are confident after winning all eight matches last year. In addition, due to the withdrawal of ‘difficult enemy’ Chen Yufei (China, 4th place) in the semifinals, she secured a ticket to the finals without wasting physical strength.
Ahn Se-young is determined to take the first step toward achieving the ‘Super 1000 Slam’ starting with the Malaysia Open and solidify her dominance.
(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Hong Ki-won = Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae are happy after winning the championship over Indonesia’s Fazar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the men’s doubles final of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 500 Korea Open held at Suwon Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do on the 28th. <저작권자 ⓒ 1980~2025 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지, AI 학습 및 활용 금지>” Class=”thumb_g_article” data-org-src=”https://T1.Daumcdn.net/News/202601/11/11/2026011060606026478os DMCF-mid=”yxwova4qdl” DMCF-MYPE=”Image””Auto” src=”https://img1.daumcdn.net/thumb/r658x0.q70./?fname=https://t1.daumcdn.net/News/202601/11/ilgansports/2
Meanwhile, Seung-jae Seo and Won-ho Kim (Samsung Life Insurance), world No. 1 men’s doubles men’s doubles players, who combined for 11 wins last year, also reached the finals. In the semifinals, they achieved a 2-1 (8-21, 21-11, 21-18) victory over the Ben Lane-Sean Bendy pair (16th place, UK). The women’s doubles world rankings No. 6 team Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) defeated Japan’s world No. 5 team Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) to advance to the finals.
Reporter Hyungseok Lee
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