Ahn Se-young: AI Badminton Star & 12 Award Predictions

[스포티비뉴스=박대현 기자] Seyoung Ahn (Samsung Life Insurance) takes up the racket again.

According to the Korea Badminton Association, the Korean badminton team, including Ahn Se-young, will board a plane on the night of the 31st to participate in the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 6th next year.

There is no time to rest. Ten days after achieving the great feat of winning 11 wins in a single season at the World Tour Finals on the 21st, he steps onto the battlefield again.

According to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) regulations, singles world rankings 1 to 15 are required to participate in Super 1000 and 750 level competitions.

Because of this, I cannot rest even after the Malaysia Open. It seems that he will be able to catch his breath until the India Open (Super 750), which opens on January 13th next year.

Ahn Se-young’s actions this year were overwhelming.

Three wins in the Super 1000 series (Malaysia, All England, and Indonesia Open), five wins in the Super 750 series (India, Japan, China, Denmark, and French Open), and the Super 500 Australian Open and Super 300 Orleans Masters. And he put all the puzzles together by winning the World Tour Finals, which was the season finale.

In the King of Kings Tournament, where the total prize money was $3 million, Ahn Se-young took home the prize money of $240,000 (about 350 million won). For the first time in BWF history, the prize money for a single season exceeded $1 million (KRW 1.48 billion), capturing records, honors, and rewards.

Ahn Se-young’s accumulated prize money this year, as calculated by BWF, is $1,003,175 (approximately 1.485 billion won), which is nearly double the previous record of $578,020 (856 million won) set by her in 2023.

In addition, this season ended with a win rate of 94.8%. They have occupied an untouched height that no single male or female singles player in history has ever stepped on. The ‘Korean Empress’ has her immortal shame clearly engraved in the BWF yearbook.

Media from rival countries also acknowledged the ‘gap’ between Ahn Se-young and the country’s ranking players.

China’s ‘Sohu’ could not hide its bitterness, saying, “Ahn Se-young is the artificial intelligence of women’s singles,” and “Through this season, we were able to clearly see how difficult a challenge the Chinese women’s singles team faces against the number one Korean player.”

On the 25th, Malaysia’s leading newspaper ‘The Star’ also praised Ahn Se-young, saying, “Ahn Se-young is almost the only active ranker with the potential to reach badminton’s ‘realm of immortality’,” and added, “He can stand shoulder to shoulder with Chinese men’s singles legend Lin Dan (42).”

Taiwan’s ‘Now News’ said, “With the introduction of the 15-point system in the next season likely, the Korean Empress is expected to be able to participate in more competitions. Through this, the probability that her dominance will be further solidified has increased,” adding, “The possibility of challenging the amazing height of 12 wins in a single season cannot be ruled out,” and predicted ‘Ahn Se-young’s 2026’ to be more dazzling than this year.