Just one game. Seyoung Ahn (23, Samsung Life Insurance) is about to make another history. If they win the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals, it will be their 11th win of the season. Now, only the final puzzle remains, leading to one of the best records in badminton singles history.
Ahn Se-young will face Wang Zhiyi (China) in the women’s singles final of the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in China in the early morning of the 21st. It is a match between the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 rankings, and the final stage to organize the badminton landscape this season.
The process leading up to this competition was clear. Ahn Se-young faltered in the group stage, but the ending was always the same. After going through all the slippery courts, mistakes, and full sets, they eventually entered the tournament in first place in Group A.
In the semifinals, she played a match that needed no further explanation against Akane Yamaguchi (world number 3, Japan). He did not let go of the lead in both sets, and secured a ticket to the finals with a 2-0 win in 38 minutes.
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His opponent in the finals, Wang Zhiyi, is a formidable name. Ranked 2nd in the world, she is the present and future of Chinese women’s singles. In the semifinals of this tournament, they also reached the finals with a close full set against Ratchanok Inthanon. Although it took a lot of physical strength, it proved that the game was persistent.
However, the relative record is clear. Ahn Se-young met Wang Zhiyi seven times this year and did not lose once. Six of them were finals. At every important moment, the result always ended in Ahn Se-young’s victory. The unique pattern of holding on on defense and immediately accumulating points when the flow comes has worked particularly strongly on Wang Ziyi.
The meaning of this final goes beyond simple victory. Ahn Se-young has participated in 14 international competitions this season and has already reached the top 10 times. If you win the World Tour Finals, it will be your 11th win of the season.
It will tie the record for most wins in a season set by Kento Momota in 2019. In addition, it is also the final task for Ahn Se-young, which is to reach the top of the World Tour Finals, which he has not yet achieved.
Even if it hesitated, it did not collapse, and even if it wavered, it eventually overpowered it. This is a scene that was repeated throughout this competition. There is only one game left now. Ahn Se-young is ready to prove once again that she is the best in the world. Attention is focused on Hangzhou to see whether the end of the finals can be the beginning of a new record. /reccos23@osen.co.kr
