“Ahn Se-young didn’t say hello, and he didn’t do it at the Denmark Open either,” said the head of the Badminton Association… Lament poured out at the National Audit Office

(Xports News Reporter Jo Eun-hye) Kim Taek-gyu, president of the Korea Badminton Association, who attended the government inspection, pointed out personnel issues with Ahn Se-young, the world’s No. 1 badminton women’s singles player.

On the 22nd, a government audit was held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, targeting organizations affiliated with and related to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Chairman Kim Taek-gyu, who appeared as a witness that day, said, “I received a call from Ahn Se-young saying that she did not say hello to her seniors or coaches even when she went to Denmark (Open).”

On this day, Yang Moon-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said to Chairman Kim Taek-gyu, “At the last closed-door meeting of the Democratic Party, he said, ‘Maybe it’s because he is a world star, but Ahn Se-young doesn’t say hello. He doesn’t say hello to the head of the athletes’ village, and he doesn’t even say hello to me, the president of the association.’ He pointed out, “The athlete village chief’s words are different.”

Rep. Yang then asked Jae-geun Jang, the head of the Jincheon Athletes’ Village, a question about Se-young Ahn’s greetings, and Jae-geun Jang said, “When I first came as the head of the athletes’ village, there were times when many athletes did not say hello to each other, perhaps because they were shy. There was also Se-young Ahn, who was a good friend of Se-young Ahn. “The players didn’t say hello to each other, so we didn’t know which sport or which player was in, so we started a campaign to say ‘Let’s say hello,’ and it got better,” he said, explaining that Ahn Se-young never intentionally didn’t say hello or didn’t receive one.

Rep. Yang raised his voice in response to Chairman Kim Taek-gyu’s pointing out Ahn Se-young’s personnel issues, saying, “Immediately after the Olympics, Ahn Se-young rang an alarm throughout the Korean sports community, and was criticized as a ‘bad-character, good-looking sports star.'” Representative Yang soon said, “Ahn Se-young said, ‘I may not say hello because I don’t see him, but I have never not said hello to my seniors, whether they are the president of the association or a teacher,'” he said.

When Rep. Yang Moon-seok repeatedly criticized him, Chairman Kim Taek-gyu replied, “I guess I’m the only one who feels that way,” and an angry Rep. Yang said, “The president of the association, it’s just a play on words.” “Didn’t you snipe me as ‘Ahn Se-young who doesn’t say hello?’” he said, raising his voice.

Chairman Kim then pointed out Ahn Se-young again, saying, “I received a call saying that he didn’t say hello to his seniors or coaches even when he went to Denmark,” and sighs and bitter laughter erupted in the National Assembly audit.

Rep. Yang Moon-seok was furious. Rep. Yang loudly reprimanded him, saying, “Does it make you happy to hear that the president of the association, who is supposed to help players achieve the best results, personally snipes at a world-renowned star and bullies him, and then says he’s doing a good job?” President Kim Taek-gyu responded, “When did I make him bully?” He defended himself, saying, “There is a difference between saying not to say hello and insulting someone personally.”

Replying to Chairman Kim’s answer, Rep. Yang lamented, “There are people who should mix things up and people who shouldn’t. At least the Badminton Association president, the more I mix things up, the more I feel like a dirty person.”

The uncomfortable atmosphere between Ahn Se-young and the association was felt even by foreign media. Malaysian media outlet Stadium Astro said, “In this match, which was her first appearance since winning the women’s singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Ahn Se-young achieved a come-from-behind victory with her unique fighting spirit, and Ahn Se-young’s victory was accompanied by an unexpected moment. She lost in the middle of the second set. “During the break, a scene was captured where he seemed to completely ignore what coach Seong Ji-hyun was saying,” he said.

The media described, “Ahn Se-young was drinking water when coach Sung Ji-hyun was talking to her, but it seemed like she was not listening at all to what coach Sung, a former national team player, said. Coach Sung eventually stopped talking and left.”

On the broadcast screen, the awkward atmosphere between the coaches and Ahn Se-young is shown exactly as the media reported. National team coach Kim Hak-gyun stayed far away and did not say anything to Ahn Se-young. Coach Seong only recited the message in a low voice, but Ahn Se-young turned away as if she was uncomfortable.

The broadcast team also looked at this situation and pointed out, “It’s repeated again. Coach Seong Ji-hyun delivers the strategy very simply. There is no feedback. Ahn Se-young is alone most of the time during the strategy.” ​

​​However, Ahn Se-young took second place in the women’s singles at the ‘BWF World Tour Super 750’ Denmark Open held in Odense, Denmark, and regained first place in the world rankings.

Se-young Ahn won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and firmly maintained her position as the world’s No. 1 women’s singles, but then took a break and skipped the Korea Open and Japan Open, etc. In the meantime, she lost ranking points and lost 1 to her rival Chen Yu-fei (China), who was also resting. The position above was taken away. Ahn Se-young’s ranking points fell further than Cheon Yu-fei’s.

In the end, Ahn Se-young fell from 1st to 2nd in the world rankings on the 8th. The rankings fluctuated again according to the results of this Denmark Open.

The BWF world ranking is calculated by selecting the 10 competitions with the highest ranking points among the competitions a specific player has played in over the past year and adding up all the points from those competitions, and is announced every Monday.

Ahn Se-young will lose the 6,420 points from the semifinals at the Japan Masters last November, which was the 10th best score, and enter the 9,350 points she earned from finishing second at the Denmark Open. This means an increase of 2930 points. Accordingly, the ranking points increased from 100,337 points on the 15th to 103,627 points this time.

On the other hand, Chen Yufei did not participate in this year’s Denmark Open, so the 11,000 points he earned from winning this tournament last year disappeared, but instead he received 7,800 points from last year’s Japan Masters runner-up, reducing his total score by 3,200 points. She dropped from 101,682 points to 98,482 points, handing over world number one to Ahn Se-young in two weeks.

Ahn Se-young, who defeated Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikiung with a game score of 2-0 in the first match on the 15th, beat Ratchanok Inthanon, also a Thai player, in the second round two days later with a game score of 2-1. We achieved a comeback victory. In the quarterfinals on the 18th, she defeated Thailand’s Supanida Katetong with a game score of 2-1.

In the semifinals on the 19th, he faced Indonesian powerhouse Gregoria Tunjung, his opponent in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics, and won the first game 22-20 in a close deuce match, and then advanced to the finals with his opponent withdrawing in the second game 12-12.

However, he was soundly defeated by Wang Ziyi in the finals. Ahn Se-young, who gave up game 1, conceded 8 consecutive goals in game 2, 8-11, and lost momentum in his pursuit.

Photo = Yonhap News

Reporter Jo Eun-hye [email protected]