[미디어펜=석명 기자] ‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) has overcome her poor performance in her first game. He defeated a Japanese player in the round of 16 and reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara (World No. 30) 2-0 (21-17 21-7) in the women’s singles round of 16 of the ‘2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open’ held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 8th.
| ▲ Ahn Se-young reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open. /Photo=Korea Badminton Association official SNS | ||
Ahn Se-young, who defeated Canada’s Michelle Lee (ranked 12th in the world) in the round of 32 on the 6th, 2-1 (19-21 21-16 21-18) after an intense match for 1 hour and 15 minutes, returned to her true form as the world’s best and defeated Okuhara in 37 minutes without much effort.
It seemed likely that Ahn Se-young would meet a difficult opponent, China’s Han Yue (ranked 5th in the world), in the quarterfinals. However, Hanwe withdrew from the round of 16 that day due to injury. As a result, Ahn Se-young’s opponent in the quarterfinals was Denmark’s world number 26 Rine Højmark Kiersfeld.
Assuming that Ahn Se-young easily defeats Keersfeld, it is highly likely that she will face China’s ‘difficult enemy’ Chen Yu-fei (4th in the world) in the semifinals. Chen Yufei also won the round of 16 that day and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Ahn Se-young, who reached the top of the Malaysia Open in 2024 and 2025, is aiming for her third consecutive victory in this tournament.
After resting for a day after the round of 32, Ahn Se-young seemed to have regained her condition and showed lighter movements that day. Ahn Se-young, who was a bit shaky at the beginning of the first game and trailed 13-15, showed his unique concentration and turned the situation around by scoring three consecutive points. After that, he scored 4 points in a row and won the first game 21-17.
Ahn Se-young, who took the lead, took control of the game with a frightening momentum by conceding one point first in the second game and then scoring 11 points. Game 2 tied Okuhara with 7 points and ended the game early.
Ahn Se-young dominated the world stage last year by tying the record for the most wins ever in a single season (11 wins), the highest singles win percentage ever (94.8%), and the highest accumulated prize money ever ($1,003,175). He continued his efforts to stay at the top in the first competition of the new year.
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