‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (22, Samsung Life Insurance) dispelled concerns by recovering from an injury and winning the first competition she participated in.
Ahn Se-young, ranked No. 1 in the women's singles world rankings, defeated Akane Yamaguchi (Japan), ranked No. 4, in the women's singles final of the 2024 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour French Open (Super 750) held at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France on the 10th (local time). We defeated it -1 (18-21 21-13 21-10).
It has been five years since Ahn Se-young won the French Open in 2019. Ahn Se-young, who was a 'surprise' winner at the age of 17 at the time, tasted victory once again at her No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
Ahn Se-young, who won the gold medal at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, suffered from injuries afterwards. In January she won the Malaysia Open (Super 1000), but during the following India Open she withdrew in the quarterfinals due to knee and thigh injuries.
After focusing on her rehabilitation and injury treatment for over a month, Ahn Se-young showed off her remaining skills by winning her return match.
In particular, this competition is a 'test event' for the Paris Olympics to be held in July, and Ahn Se-young raised expectations by winning at the stadium where the Olympics will be held.
In this tournament, he defeated top-ranked players including He Bingjiao (China) in the quarterfinals, Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan) in the semifinals, and Yamaguchi in the finals.
Ahn Se-young was trailing with 9 wins and 12 losses against Yamaguchi, but won all three of their recent matches. The trend continued this day as well.
Ahn Se-young, who lost the first set 18-21, showed her tenacity from the second set. The style of play that exhausts the opponent's stamina and induces mistakes through the unique 'suffocating defense' came out well.
Ahn Se-young, who gained momentum by scoring 5 consecutive points at 9-8, conversely conceded 5 consecutive goals and fell to 14-13.
However, Ahn Se-young, who did not allow the score to be tied, took the lead by winning the long rally that followed, while Yamaguchi, who had exhausted his stamina, collapsed after making a lot of mistakes. In the end, they went from 14-13 down to 7 consecutive points to win 21-13.
Ahn Se-young continued the trend in the third set. Right from the get-go, he scored five straight points to build momentum, then again four straight points to make it 6-2. The gap widened significantly from the beginning, breaking Yamaguchi's will to chase.
Ahn Se-young confirmed the championship with a complete victory of 21-10. He opened his arms to the audience and roared with joy.
World No. 3 Seung-jae Seo (27, Samsung Life Insurance) and Chae Yu-jeong (29, Incheon International Airport), who reached the mixed doubles final, defeated No. 4 Peng Yang-je and Huang Dongping (China) 0-2 (16-21 16-21). He lost and finished second.
Korea finished this tournament with one gold medal, one silver medal, and one bronze medal, including Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk (Samsung Life Insurance), who were eliminated in the semifinals.
The national team will participate in the All England Open, the most prestigious badminton tournament, which continues next week. Ahn Se-young attempts to win the competition for the second time in a row. 토토