Ahn Se-young: Historic 10th Gold & Badminton Dominance

Ahn Se-young (23), who confirmed her victory, roared at the audience as always. Then, unlike before, he spread out his 10 fingers and made the motion of folding them one by one. At the ceremony of the ‘Badminton Empress’, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) commentator laughed and said, “This is an action knowing that she is the first women’s singles player to record 10 wins in a season. Ahn Se-young is a true ‘entertainer.'”

Ahn Se-young, world number one in women’s badminton, achieved 10 wins in a season in women’s singles for the first time in history. Seyoung Ahn defeated Putri Wardani (7th place, Indonesia) 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) in the final of the BWF World Tour Australian Open held in Sydney, Australia on the 23rd, and lifted her 10th championship trophy. The previous record (9 wins) was also set by Ahn Se-young in 2023.

Ahn Se-young, who was the only player in the top 5 in the world rankings to participate in this tournament, completed a ‘perfect win’ without giving up a single set throughout the tournament. Ahn Se-young finished the first half of the first set on this day trailing 10-11. This was the first time that Ahn Se-young allowed more than 11 points in one set in this tournament. However, Ahn Se-young immediately launched a merciless attack and won the first set. Trailing 15-16, he ended the first set by smashing the last six points in a row. The second set was also won without any major problems.

Ahn Se-young is growing further by using the ‘disappointments’ of the past two seasons as nourishment. Ahn Se-young won nine times until September in the 2023 season, when she first ranked No. 1 in the world. However, after winning the gold medal in the finals of the Hangzhou Asian Games in October with a knee injury, he was unable to add another win. In the aftermath of this injury, Ahn Se-young showed ups and downs, winning only three international competitions until just before winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, there is nothing rough about the ‘healthy’ Ahn Se-young. Ahn Se-young, who is going through the season while managing her condition, continues to have an incredible record of 68 wins and 4 losses (94.4% winning rate) to this day. There has never been a player who has had a more dominant season than Ahn Se-young.

Ahn Se-young, who has added aggressive play to his existing impenetrable defense, has played less than 44 minutes on average this season. This year, Ahn Se-young only had five matches that took more than an hour to finish. The result of all five games was Ahn Se-young’s victory. This means that even in a physical battle where the rally was long, there was no one who could beat Ahn Se-young.

Ahn Se-young, who plays more intensely than anyone else, was not free from injuries this year either. Ahn Se-young withdrew during the second set in the semifinals of the China Open held in July. If he had won this competition, he could have achieved the ‘Super 1000 Slam’ of winning all four Super 1000 grade competitions for the first time in history, but he gave up the competition due to concerns about worsening his knee injury. Ahn Se-young’s eyes were red with regret at the time.

Ahn Se-young, who shook off the disappointment of that time by achieving 10 wins in a season for the first time on this day, takes on the challenge of making even greater history in the remaining season. Seyoung Ahn will attempt to win her 11th title at the BWF World Tour Finals held in China next month. If Ahn Se-young decorates the finale with a win, she will tie the record for most wins in a season alongside Kento Momota (31, Japan, retired), who won the men’s singles title 11 times in 2019.

Reporter Lim Bomi [email protected]