Seyoung Ahn. AP Yonhap News
Putri Kusuma Wardani. AP Yonhap News
Now, just one more step and you’re in the finals. ‘Empress’ Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) reached the semifinals of the India Open.
Ahn Se-young, ranked No. 1 in the badminton women’s singles world rankings, advanced to the semifinals by defeating Indonesia’s leading player Putri Kusuma Wardani (6th) with a set score of 2-0 (21-16 21-8) in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour India Open (Super 750) held in New Delhi, India on the 16th.
With this win, Ahn Se-young extended his record against Wardani to 8 wins and undefeated. Seyoung Ahn will face Ratchanok Inthanon (8th place, Thailand) in the semifinals.
Ahn Se-young, who had an uneasy start by losing five points in a row at the start of the first set, won the hairpin battle at 2-6 to break Wardani’s flow, and then narrowed the gap to 4-6 due to Wardani’s mistakes one after another. Then Wardani’s attack went off the line again and they trailed by 1 point. Afterwards, at 6-7, he succeeded in a powerful attack towards Wardani’s body, tying the score at 7-7.
Seyoung Ahn. AFP Yonhap News
The first set, which had been unfolding in a tight manner, began to gradually lean towards Ahn Se-young after the interval. Ahn Se-young, who scored with an exquisite drop shot at 11-11, made a huge diagonal attack in the ensuing rally and ran away with the score at 13-11. He then succeeded in a powerful straight smash, widening the gap to 14-11. In both the round of 32 and the round of 16, Wardani’s movements became slower as time went by, and Ahn Se-young, who continued to push and pull back and forth, draining Wardani’s stamina, eventually won the first set with a score of 21-16.
Ahn Se-young, who continued the tight game at the beginning of the second set, gained momentum by scoring four consecutive points at 5-4. Afterwards, at 9-6, he scored by receiving Wardani’s exquisite diagonal hairpin with amazing defense, and then Wardani’s attack missed, and he went into the interval with an 11-6 lead.
In the game that resumed after the interval, Ahn Se-young began to rapidly widen the gap. Ahn Se-young, who defeated Wardani at 12-7 with an attack aimed at Wardani’s right armpit, ran away to 18-8 at 14-8 due to Wardani’s 5 consecutive errors, and ended the game without any further changes.
Seyoung Ahn. EPAYonhap News
Last year, Ahn Se-young had the best season. Starting with winning the Malaysia Open in January, he made a tremendous run, and also reached the top of the World Tour Finals in December, winning 11 times in the year, tying the record for most wins in a badminton single season set by Japanese male player Kento Momota in 2019. The overall record in 2025 was 73 wins and 4 losses, and the winning rate was 94.8%. Except for Chen Yufei (4th place, China), Akane Yamaguchi (3rd place, Japan), and Han Yue (5th place, China), there was no opponent who had beaten Ahn Se-young. He met Wang Ziyi (2nd place, China), who was following behind him, eight times and won all of them. It was truly ‘Ahn Se-young’s world.’
Ahn Se-young, who has welcomed the new year 2026 with the splendid year of 2025 in her heart, is running brightly again from the beginning. He also won the Malaysia Open, which was the first tournament of the year, and achieved his third consecutive championship. He also showed great power to turn the game around at 9-17 in the second set against Wang Zhiyi, whom he met in the finals.
Ahn Se-young will challenge to win six consecutive World Tour tournaments at this India Open. If Ahn Se-young makes it to the finals, she will face the winner of the Wang Zhiyi-Chen Yufei match. He is tied with Chen Yufei with 14 wins and 14 losses, and has a one-sided advantage with Wang Ziyi with 17 wins and 4 losses.
Seyoung Ahn. Shinhwa Yonhap News
