“Ahn Se-young doesn’t play?”… Badminton emperor’s ‘intuition’ fails, fans are very disappointed [밀양 현장]

(Xports News Miryang, Reporter Kim Ji-su) Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do is burning with badminton fever. However, the wishes of fans who wanted to see Emperor Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance)’s powerful smash in front of their eyes once again did not come true in the women’s team finals.

Samsung Life Insurance (Busan) won the championship by defeating Gyeongbuk (Gimcheon City Hall) with a game score of 3-0 in the final of the badminton women’s general team event at the 105th National Sports Festival held at Miryang Badminton Stadium in Gyeongnam on the 12th.

Samsung Life Insurance won the first and second women’s singles games and one doubles game in succession in the women’s team finals on this day. In this competition representing Busan, he showed off his best skills and won a gold medal.

However, Ahn Se-young, who attracted attention, did not participate. Ahn Se-young played as a singles runner in the second game in the semi-finals of the badminton women’s general team event held at Miryang Badminton Stadium in Gyeongnam on the 11th, defeating Bae Kyeong-eun (Chungbuk) 2-0 (21-19 21-11) and advancing to the finals of Samsung Life Insurance. It was towed.

However, Se-young Ahn complained of knee pain after the semi-finals of the National Sports Festival on the 11th, so she moved to Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, where her team’s training center is located, along with badminton coach Gil Young-ah of Samsung Life Insurance.

Kim Ga-eun, a member of Samsung Life Insurance, told on-site reporters who visited Miryang Badminton Stadium on the 12th, “Ahn Se-young moved to Yongin before other players because her knee condition is not good. I am also scheduled to participate in the Denmark Open, so I will finish the final of the National Sports Festival today. “I plan to leave the country with Ahn Se-young tomorrow,” he said.

Ahn Se-young was a medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics whose performance was the most notable at this National Sports Festival. Fans and media were interested in not only his current physical condition and condition, but also how he felt about working out.

Ahn Se-young held a ‘coronation ceremony’ in the badminton women’s singles final at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Porte de la Chapelle Stadium in Paris, France on August 5. He defeated World No. 9 He Bingjiao with a game score of 2-0 (21-13 21-16) and won the gold medal.

It has been 16 years since Korean badminton won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics since Yong-Dae Lee and Hyo-Jeong Lee in the mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Games. In the case of women’s singles, it was the first feat in 28 years since Su-Hyun Bang at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Ahn Se-young washed away the disappointment of only winning a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021), the first Olympics of her career, in Paris three years later. Last year, after winning consecutive championships at the Copenhagen World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games, she also won an Olympic gold medal and became a true women’s badminton legend.

However, as soon as Ahn Se-young conquered the Olympic podium, she revealed her inner feelings that she had been hiding. He expressed criticism that the Korean Badminton Association’s national team management process and administration need improvement.

The impact of Ahn Se-young’s remarks was great. As the problem spread to the political world, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted an intensive investigation into the Korea Badminton Association.

The issues raised by Se-young Ahn include the national team’s injury management system, singles and doubles customized training system, shortened national team convocation period, life in the athletes’ village, participation in strategic international competitions, activation of communication between the association and the national team, and improvement in the treatment of managers, coaches, and trainers. It was pointed out.

Ahn Se-young put aside issues outside of the game and worked hard to stay on top of the world. While he was unable to participate in the Japan Open and Korea Open in August and September due to a knee injury, he chose the Gimhae National Sports Festival as the stage for his return to action.

Numerous fans flocked to Miryang Badminton Stadium to ‘observe’ the play of Ahn Se-young, the best player in the game. On the 9th, when Ahn Se-young played her first game, the women’s team preliminaries were crowded with reporters and spectators, reminiscent of a major international tournament.

Ahn Se-young shed tears in an interview after completing her comeback match on the 9th, revealing her emotional distress. When asked if her love for badminton grew during her break, Ahn Se-young blushed. After controlling her emotions a little, she turned to her fans and said, “I’m sure you’ve been waiting for me a lot, and I’m really grateful to the fans who have loved my badminton so much. “I want to give it to you,” he said.

Continuing from the 11th, fans visited Miryang Badminton Stadium on the 12th. I could feel the will not to miss the rare opportunity to watch Ahn Se-young play up close.

However, when Ahn Se-young did not appear in the final of the women’s team event, the audience was in an uproar. Some fans approached reporters wearing AD cards around their necks and actively asked, “Is Ahn Se-young not playing today?”

The eyes of fans who confirmed that Ahn Se-young would not participate in the finals seemed full of disappointment. However, rather than leaving the stadium right away, I watched the other final games and enjoyed the high-level play of the country’s top players until the end.

Meanwhile, Ahn Se-young will participate in the ‘2024 Denmark Open’ to be held at Arena Finn in Odense, Denmark from the 15th (Korean time) to the 20th. In this tournament, where a total prize money of $850,000 (approximately 1.15 billion won) is at stake, Ahn Se-young aims to win the women’s singles title among a total of eight players.

Photo = Yonhap News

Reporter Jisoo Kim [email protected]