Defeated 28th-ranked Gaofangjie of China 2-0 in the Chinese Masters final…returned to the top after 2 tournaments after the Olympics
Ahn Se-young (22, No. 1 in the world rankings), the star of Korean badminton, who suffered from serious injuries and a long conflict with the Badminton Association after winning the women’s singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics, finally rose to the top again. Ahn Se-young won the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 China Masters women’s singles final held in China on the 24th, defeating China’s Gao Fangjie 2-0 (21-12 21-8). This is her first international win since winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics last August.
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Ahn Se-young is hitting a shuttlecock hit by China’s Gao Fangjie in the final of the World Badminton Federation China Masters Tournament held in Shenzhen, China on the 24th. / AP Yonhap News |
The final on this day was a game that clearly showed how powerful Ahn Se-young was without injury. In the first game, Ahn Se-young showed off his unique solid defense ability to cover every corner of the court, and Gao Fangjie fell apart after making one mistake after another. In the second game, Ahn Se-young virtually won an easy victory by running away with a 19-6 13-point lead. At the Denmark Open, where he finished second, an uncomfortable atmosphere was felt with the coaching staff, including national team coach Kim Hak-gyun, but what was different in this tournament was active communication with coaches Ronnie Agustinus and Seong Ji-hyun.
In this competition, Ahn Se-young was in trouble until she won. In the round of 32, he defeated world No. 18 Ratchanok Inthanon (Thailand) 2-1, then defeated Song Shuo-yin (Taiwan, No. 24) and Zhang Yi-man (China, No. 23) in turn, and also defeated Japan’s Miyazaki in the semifinals held on the 23rd. They defeated Tomoka (14th place) 2-0, advanced to the finals, and won the championship with 5 consecutive wins. Gao Fangjie, ranked 28th in the world, defeated world number 2 Wang Zhiyi (China), who had defeated An Se-young in the final of the Denmark Open last month, in the round of 16 of this tournament, but it was not enough for the injured Ahn Se-young in the final.
With this win, Ahn Se-young was able to shake off the worries caused by injury concerns and conflict with the Badminton Association. Even though she injured her ankle tendon at the last Paris Olympics, she fought hard to win the badminton women’s singles Olympic gold medal 28 years after Bang Bang-hyeon.
However, immediately after winning the gold medal, he became embroiled in fierce controversy after making a bombshell comment pointing out the absurdity of the Badminton Association. Despite the criticism that “I did not win the gold medal on my own,” I devoted myself to rehabilitation, but I had to endure a lot of mental hardship until I won this victory. After making his first official return to competition after the Olympics at the National Sports Festival held in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do early last month, he shed tears when asked by reporters, “You said you thought a lot during that time, but has your love for badminton grown?”
Then, at the BWF Denmark Open, his first international tournament after recovering from his injury, he finished in second place, losing 0-2 to China’s Wang Zhiyi (world number 3) in the final. There were also voices of concern, saying, “Isn’t the fact that she played with an injury all the way to the Olympics holding back Ahn Se-young?” Fans’ concerns grew as she missed the Japan Masters, which ended on the 17th after the Denmark Open, to prevent injuries, but by winning the China Masters, Ahn Se-young once again showed that she is the world’s best women’s singles player.
As a result of Ahn Se-young’s raising of the issue, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted a large-scale investigation, and as a result, it was confirmed that the Badminton Association had improperly used approximately 9 billion won of the national budget in violation of the Subsidy Act and that it had unfairly distributed sponsorship items. It has been done. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has requested the police to investigate and has requested the dismissal of Kim Taek-gyu, the head of the Badminton Association, and severe disciplinary action against the secretary-general. During the investigation, it was confirmed that Chairman Kim Taek-gyu was harassed, verbally abused, and demanded excessive protocol in the workplace.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also announced that if the association does not make efforts to correct itself, it will designate a management organization to dismiss all executives and stop all budget support other than player support. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also ordered the abolition of the Badminton Association’s unfair restrictions on participation in international competitions, allowing sponsor logos to be exposed, improving the method of selecting doubles players, and abolishing salary discrimination based on academic background, confirming that Ahn Se-young’s stance on the issue is not much different from the position of other players.
However, on the 23rd, the Badminton Association objected to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s criticism of violation of the subsidy law, saying, “The subsidy was executed in compliance with the guidelines and with the approval of a higher authority.” The association recently raised the Olympic gold medal prize to 100 million won and said, “We will actively change the system and regulations so that the association can return to normal,” but it still appears to be holding on to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s investigation results and corrective orders.
[배준용 기자]
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