Ahn Se-young (21, Samsung Life Insurance)
the signboard of Korean women’s badminton and the world’s No. 1
returned home in gold.
The Korean badminton team
including Ahn Se-young, returned home through Incheon International Airport on the 29th.
Ahn Se-young beat Carolina Marin (Spain, world No. 6) 2-0 (21-12 21-10)
in the women’s singles final of the 2023 World Badminton Federation (BWF) World Individual Badminton Championships held in Copenhagen
Denmark on the 27th (Korean time).
was completed.
At the World Championships held in Tokyo
Japan last year
Ahn Se-young won a bronze medal.
At the time, he lost to Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, world No. 2)
who was world No. 1 in the semifinals
and was thwarted from advancing to the final.
Ahn Se-young
who came back after growing several stages this year, defeated her old enemy Chen Yu-fei (China, world No. 3) 2-0 (21-19 21-15) in the semifinals.
She also defeated Yamaguchi to become the ‘Badminton Queen’ by dominating even Marin
who reached the final.
Ahn Se-young has won eight international competitions this year alone.
He became the first Korean player to rank first in the women’s singles world after 27 years since Bang Soo-hyun.
She also made a mark in badminton history once again by reaching the top of the men’s and women’s singles for the first time in Korea at the 28th World Championships.
The Korean team that participated in the World Championships not only won Ahn Se-young’s championship
but also won gold medals in men’s doubles (Kang Min-hyeok-Seo Seung-jae) and mixed doubles (Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yoo-jeong).
In addition to the women’s doubles bronze medal (Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong), they jointly won three gold medals and one bronze medal, the best ever.
In particular 온라인섯다
Ahn Se-young participated in the event for the first time after reaching her world No. 1 ranking.
Arriving at Incheon International Airport
he confessed
It was the first time I participated in the tournament as the world’s No.
He added
But it was good because I was able to play the way I wanted to.
Ahn Se-young met her ‘nemesis’ Chen Yu-fei in the semifinals.
After meeting the opponent he had to overcome in order to win
he said
Every game was a hurdle.
It was like that from the first game to the final.
Chen Yufei was a player I was very picky about
but I played the way I wanted to
so I solved it easily.
The match where Ahn Se-young had a hard time was in the quarterfinals against former world No. 1 Nozomi Okuhara (Japan).
In this match
Ahn Se-young lost her first set
but later regained her skills and won her a come-from-behind victory.
Regarding this match
Ahn Se-young said
All the players became players who understood (the opponent).
There were players I met a lot
but I was very nervous because that player (Okuhara) was the first opponent I met.
He explained
I tried to relax quickly because it seems that the performance changes depending on how quickly I relax.
Regarding participating in the tournament as the world’s No. 1 player
he laughed
saying
I can’t think of anything good about it.
Ahn Se-young said
I was worried because I am a player who leads rather than a player who follows.
After defeating Marine in the final, Ahn Se-young asked for a greeting
but the opponent did not seem to accept it.
Regarding the situation at the time
Ahn Se-young said
Earlier this year
I met Marin in the final of the Masters in Indonesia.
At that time
the player told me not to greet our coach first
but to come to him first. I did not forget that word this time
but I was so happy that the coaches I was very happy and went to Marin
and he said that
he said at the time.
He laughed coolly
saying
I think I was not polite.”
Ahn Se-young
who rose to the top of the world rankings and became the first Korean player to reach the top of the singles world championships
announced that her next goal would be the ‘Grand Slam’.
He said
My goal is the Grand Slam
and I am happy and proud to win one of them
the World Championships.
From now on
what I have to do is the Asian Games
the Olympics
and the Asian Championships.
I want to win this tournament as well.
Meanwhile
Ahn Se-young
who finished this tournament
will participate in the BWF World Tour Super 1000 China Open
which will be held in Changzhou
China from the 5th of next month.