Ahn Se-young: Badminton Queen Wins $3M+ & Reaches Quarterfinals

(Xports News Reporter Woojin Lee) There was no opponent on the court. Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), ranked No. 1 in the women’s badminton singles world rankings, once again proved her ‘queen’s power’ by overwhelming her opponent in the round of 16 of the India Open, and is preparing for a three-game series against powerful players in Southeast Asia and China.

Ahn Se-young, who got off to an easy start by defeating Japanese veteran Nozomi Okuhara (World No. 27) 2-0 in the round of 32, showed her best performance in the round of 16 as well as being in good physical condition.

Se-young Ahn won her first match against Yu-sun Hwang (Taiwan, world ranking 38) in the women’s singles round of 16 of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour India Open (Super 750) held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India on the 15th (Korean time), winning 2-0 (21-14 21-9) in about 31 minutes.

Hwang Yoo-sun was an ambush after beating Korea’s Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance) 2-1 in the round of 32, but she was too easy an opponent for Ahn Se-young.

At the beginning of the first game, Hwang Yu-sun attacked with an active attitude. However, Ahn Se-young immediately launched a counterattack with his unique stable defense and quick transition to attack. The tight game continued until 6-5.

Afterwards, when Hwang Yu-sun attacked, Ahn Se-young responded with tenacious defense and broke the flow. In particular, Ahn Se-young caught all of Hwang Yu-sun’s smashes and often caused net mistakes. Ahn Se-young went into the interval first with an 11-7 lead.

Hwang Yoo-sun scored consecutive goals and tied the score at 12-12, but from then on, it was Ahn Se-young’s pace. Ahn Se-young used persistent defense to force the opponent into making mistakes, and in the process, he succeeded in scoring five consecutive points, widening the score gap to 17-13. Afterwards, Hwang Yu-sun’s mistakes continued and the gap widened further.

In the end, Ahn Se-young continued to expand the lead and finished game 1 with 21-14. It was a close game until the middle part, but as it went towards the second half, it was a game where Ahn Se-young’s unique suffocating defense and game management shined.

In game 2, unlike game 1, Ahn Se-young completely dominated the flow from the beginning. Ahn Se-young, who scored with unwavering defense from the first rally, led long rallies afterward, countered Hwang Yu-sun’s attacks, and calmly accumulated points by drawing out the opponent’s mistakes.

With skillful management of the game that appropriately mixed attack and defense, the score gap gradually widened, and Ahn Se-young entered the interval with an 11-7 lead.

After the interval, it was actually Ahn Se-young’s one-sided flow. While Hwang Yu-sun’s mistakes continued, Ahn Se-young scored eight consecutive points with a stable rally and appropriate smash attacks, completely breaking the opponent’s momentum. Before we knew it, the score had risen to 18-8.

Afterwards, Ahn Se-young, who played a near-perfect game in both offense and defense, ended the game by easily finishing the second game with a score of 21-9.

Ahn Se-young’s overwhelming performance was enough to attract the attention of foreign media.

Indonesian sports media ‘Juara’ reported the results of the game and described Ahn Se-young as “the queen of badminton.” The media reported, “Ahn Se-young achieved an overwhelming victory against Hwang Yu-sun by performing a stable performance in both games.”

Joo A-ra also added, “Ahn Se-young completely dominated the flow of the game by scoring consecutive points in the second game,” and added, “At the India Open, he once again proved his power as the world’s No. 1 player.”

Ahn Se-young, who started the 2026 season on a good note by winning the Malaysia Open (Super 1000), the first international tournament of the new year, by defeating Wang Zhiyi (China, world No. 2), is challenging the record of winning as many as six consecutive tournaments at this year’s India Open.

In particular, the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex where this competition is being held is the location where the World Championships are scheduled to be held this summer, and this competition is in fact a prelude to it. It is predicted that the experience from this competition will serve as an important foundation in the future.

This India Open is also a stage that could become another milestone for Ahn Se-young. If she wins this competition again, having reached the top twice in 2023 and 2025, she will tie the record for most wins in women’s singles with Ratchanok Inthanon (Thailand).

In addition, Ahn Se-young surpassed $2,772,917 (approximately KRW 4.0676 billion) in accumulated career prize money by winning the Malaysia Open, and exceeded KRW 4.1 billion by advancing to the quarterfinals of the India Open. If you reach the top, you can add $66,500 (approximately 97.5 million won) in prize money, bringing you one step closer to reaching the cumulative prize money record of 5 billion won within the year.

Ahn Se-young’s prize money literally increases every time she wins, allowing her to break the world record for total prize money every day.

Meanwhile, Ahn Se-young, who advanced to the quarterfinals, will clash with Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani at 5:50 pm on the 16th.

Ahn Se-young has a record of 7 wins against Wardani.

However, Wardani is also Indonesia’s ace, ranked 6th in the world rankings, and is a player who can create surprises at any time with his offensive power and concentration, so Ahn Se-young is expected to show his best performance.

Wardani also faced Ahn Se-young in the first two games of the World Tour Finals last month, overwhelming him 2-18 and winning one game, so he is expected to keep the memory of that time alive and face Ahn Se-young.

Photo = Yonhap News / BWF

Reporter Woojin Lee [email protected]