Ahn Se-young Emerges as the World’s Strongest Player in Badminton

Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), who received attention with various modifiers such as ‘Badminton Genius Girl’ and ‘The Future of Korean Badminton’, stood tall as the world’s strongest player in name and reality.

Ahn Se-young, world No. 2 in the women’s singles ranking, won the championship by beating No. 4 Tai Zi-ying (Taiwan) 2-0 (21-9 21-15) in the Korea Open women’s singles final held at the Jinnam Gymnasium in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do on the 23rd.

Ahn Se-young, who gave Korea a gold medal in seven years after reaching the top of the women’s singles event last year, succeeded in winning the tournament for the second time in a row. It is the first time in 29 years that a Korean player has won the Korea Open women’s singles for two consecutive years since Bang Su-hyeon in 1993-1994.

With this victory, Ahn Se-young won her sixth gold medal in this year’s international competition. It’s a huge rise.

Starting with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, defense power based on strong physical strength, which emerged as the face of badminton in Korea, was cited as an advantage. However, his offensive power was rather weak, and he was often unable to cross the final threshold for winning.

Ahn Se-young devoted herself to weight training last winter to compensate for this. As a result, his stamina, which was his previous strength, was further improved, and his smashing power was added. The effect of the training was immediately apparent.

After defeating archrival Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) at the India Open in January to reach the top, she also won the gold medal at the Indonesia Masters.

In March, at the Jeonyeong Open, the most prestigious badminton tournament, she defeated rival Chen Yufei (China) and stood at the top. Even then, it was a feat achieved 27 years after Bang Soo-hyun in 1996.

Ahn Se-young, who added a gold medal by defeating Heo Bing-jao (China) at the Thailand Open in June, defeated Yamaguchi once again at the Singapore Open a week later to lift her fifth trophy.

Then, at the Korea Open held in Korea, after beating Chen Yu-Fei in the semifinals, she reached the top again with an overwhelming performance against Tai Zi-ying in the final.

As a result, Ahn Se-young reached the top six times out of the 10 international competitions she participated in this year. In the rest, she was consistent enough to record runner-up three times and third place once.

It was even more meaningful as it was a victory after defeating top ranked players such as Yamaguchi in 1st place, Yufei Chen in 3rd place, Tai Ziying in 4th place, and Bingjiao Heo in 5th place.

Ahn Se-young said after the game, “There were many times when I wanted to give up while enduring high-intensity training, but I believed in myself and did my best every day, so the results followed.”

The joy of winning is short-lived, and Ahn Se-young prepares for the Japan Open next week. Since then, she is waiting in line for important competitions such as the World Championships in August and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

In order for Ahn Se-young to continue his good momentum in the second half, he needs sharper offensive power than now. He shows a strong side in persistent rallies with his excellent defense, but his blade is still somewhat dull compared to other competitors.

Because of this, in the Korea Open semifinal match against Chen Yu-Fei, she failed to save a chance to finish the match and played a rather difficult match.

Ahn Se-young is also well aware of this point, so he will focus on supplementing his offensive power until the Asian Games.

Among the ‘Big 4’, consisting of Yamaguchi, Ahn Se-young, Chen Yu-fei, and Tai Zi-ying, only Ahn Se-young has never been ranked number one in the world.

Considering his recent momentum, good results at the World Championships and Asian Games will give him a chance to take down Yamaguchi and rise to the top spot.

If you maximize your strengths and make up for your weaknesses, you can no longer be labeled a ‘genius girl’ or ‘future’ and earn the title of ‘queen’.

(Seoul = News 1)

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