Ahn Se-young sheds tears she had been holding back… her will for a new start and new challenge revealed while crying [IS 피플]

Sun coat again after 2 months. Ahn Se-young (22, Samsung Life Insurance), who had been going through a lot of emotional distress, eventually shed tears at an official event.

Ahn Se-young played two singles matches for Busan (Samsung Life Insurance) in the badminton women’s general team preliminaries of the 105th National Sports Festival (National Sports Festival) held at Miryang Badminton Stadium in Gyeongnam on the 9th, defeating Incheon (Incheon International Airport) Sim Yu-jin 2- They were defeated with a score of 0 (21-14, 21-9). At the beginning of the first game, he made several mistakes and showed no sense of play, but after the middle of the game, his characteristic quick movements came back to life and widened the score gap. In the second set, he overwhelmed his opponent. After the victory, the fans who visited the stadium were thrilled with their unique ceremony.

Ahn Se-young made her comeback two months after competing in the finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 5. In addition to the right knee suffered at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October last year, there was also a problem with my left ankle while preparing for the Olympics, so I needed a break.

Even off the court, he was at the center of controversy. Immediately after defeating He Bingjiao (China) and winning the Olympic gold medal that she had been aiming for, Ahn Se-young criticized the Korean Badminton Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association)’s national team management policy. He also raised his voice against the association’s unreasonable regulations, criticizing the situation where national team players must only use sponsor products. Afterwards, suspicions arose of the association’s lax management and the corruption of its president, Kim Taek-gyu, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) formed an investigation committee and began an investigation.

The gap period was bound to feel particularly long. Ahn Se-young smiled and expressed her feelings about returning, saying, “It was my first comeback performance after the Olympics, and I was so happy that many people still remembered and cheered me on.”

But soon I couldn’t control my overflowing emotions. Ahn Se-young was unable to immediately answer the reporter’s question, “Has your love for badminton grown?” She sighed, “Ah…”, lowered her head as if trying to hold back tears, and smoothed the corners of her eyes.

Afterwards, Ahn Se-young was unable to hide her tears and continued the interview with a trembling voice. When the fans who were watching the interview cheered and chanted “Don’t cry” to him, he turned his head and said “Thank you” and said to the badminton fan, “I was so upset, but I think it’s good that I was able to come back well. I’ll have a good time in the future as well.” He also sent a message saying, “I will show you a lot of myself, so please support me a lot.”

Immediately after the controversy broke out, a close associate of Ahn Se-young said, “If the player only thought about himself, he would not have talked about the inside story of the national team and the association. He was speaking out for the sake of the juniors who will join the national team in the future.”

In fact, the ball that Ahn Se-young shot is expected to change the overall operation of the association, national team, and business team. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced in an interim briefing on the association’s investigation on the 10th of last month that it plans to abolish or improve problems that Ahn Se-young directly mentioned or that arose during the controversy, such as restricting non-national team players from participating in international competitions. Association President Kim Taek-gyu, who appeared as a witness at the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s inquiry on pending issues held on the 24th of last month, also said that he would try to correct the current contract that allows national team players to use only sponsor products.

However, when asked, “Do you think (the series of situations) is progressing in the direction you want?”, Ahn Se-young remained silent, saying, “I have nothing to say about that. I haven’t seen everything that’s going on.”

Ahn Se-young will return to the national team after completing the National Sports Festival schedule and participate in the Denmark Open starting on the 15th. Ahn Se-young said, “My physical condition has improved a lot. I think it has improved to 70-80%. I have gained a lot of experience so far. I think I can prepare better based on that and move forward.”

Ahn Se-young fell from 1st to 2nd place in 14 months in the women’s singles rankings announced by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on the 8th. Regarding this, she said, “I enjoyed it because I thought I could enjoy it a little now that my dream has come true. See you in the future.” He expressed confidence, saying, “If I play badminton well and enjoy it, I think I will rise to the top of the rankings before I know it.” In addition, he said, “Running toward a new goal is a mindset that a player must have,” and added, “I will now work hard to become someone who can surpass Ahn Se-young.”

Reporter Ahn Hee-soo [email protected]

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