Ahn Se-yeong (21, Samsung Life Insurance), a Korean women’s badminton player, is advancing towards the world’s top by defeating strong players one after another.
World No. 2 Ahn Se-young defeated 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist Carolina Marin (Spain, 9th) in the women’s singles final of the World Badminton Federation (BWF) World Tour Indonesia Masters held at Senayan Stadium in Istora, Jakarta, Indonesia on the 29th (Korean time). They defeated them 2-1 (18-21, 12-18, 21-13) and lifted the championship cup.
In the final match of the Indian Open held on the 22nd, Ahn Se-young also won 2-1 against No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan). winning two tournaments in a row. She increased her momentum by reaching the finals in all three competitions she participated in this year.
Ahn Se-young was a third-year student at the Gwangju weight class. She was selected for the national team in 2017 and earned the nickname “genius girl.” He debuted on the international stage the following year. In 2019, when she was in her second year of high school, she won 5 competitions and became the first Korean player to be awarded the BWF Rookie of the Year award. She also entered the top 10 of the rankings.
Ahn Se-young lost to Chen Yu-fei (China), who was ranked second in the world rankings and the first seed in the tournament, in the quarterfinals of the women’s singles at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Taking her failure as nourishment, he continued to grow steadily and continued to perform well in her international competitions. She proved her world-class skills by reaching the top at the Malaysian Masters, which she competed in in July last year, and the Australian Open in November, and she is sweeping the championship trophy this year as well. She even moved up to second in the rankings.
Ahn Se-young continues to fight for revenge in the confrontation with the world’s top rankers, who have been weak so far. In last year’s Malaysia Masters final, she defeated Chen Yu-fei, who had never won in the previous seven matches, including the Tokyo Olympics (quarterfinals). At the Malaysian Open, her first tournament of the year, she also defeated Chen Yu-fei 2-1 in the semifinals.
She also sorts out her nemesis relationship with Yamaguchi. Ahn Se-young suffered 10 losses (5 wins) against Yamaguchi before the Indian Open. She also lost in the Malaysian Open final, her first match of the year. However, she came out of the thirteen of four consecutive losses, and finally ended her losing streak in the final of the Indian Open. She gave up one game, but came from behind to catch two games. Ahn Se-young also defeated Heo Bing-jao, who had lost all four matches in his career, in the semifinals of this tournament (India Open).
Ahn Se-young’s strengths are her fighting spirit hustle play and strong defense. In the Tokyo Olympics, there were several scenes where the knee was rubbed on the court and bleeding while kicking off the opponent’s attack.
Ahn Se-young also suffered a thigh injury in the semifinal match against Wang Zhiyi (China) at the Indonesia Masters, which challenged her to win two consecutive tournaments. But she didn’t break. In the two-game score of 14-13, which was the watershed of the final against Marin, the opponent’s drop shot that landed on the court sideline was blown away and passed over the net to induce the opponent to make a mistake. After setting the game at his own pace, he won a come-from-behind victory. 메이저놀이터
After the Tokyo Olympics, Ahn Se-young strengthened weight training. He is evaluated as having become stronger in both muscle and physical strength. Thanks to this, his strong point, defense, has improved. He proved his growth by defeating enemies one after another. At the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which will be held in September, she has emerged as a strong gold medal contender. The prospects for the Paris Olympics in 2024 are also bright.