adminAhn Se-young (21), a Korean badminton ace, wore the Taegeuk mark and played on the adult national team in middle school. At the age of 15, she became the youngest national badminton player ever. Since then, she has grown steadily and has become a pillar of the Korean women’s singles.
Korean badminton has not won an international championship since Bang Soo-hyun in the women’s singles. The last Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996, and the last Asian Games were in Hiroshima in 1994, when Bang Soo-hyun won a gold medal. To carry on her life, many stars took on the challenge and performed at the top of the world stage, but they failed to achieve their dream of winning a gold medal and withdrew. The dream that her seniors couldn’t achieve has now become Ahn Se-young’s dream.
She appeared with Ahn Se-young being called a ‘genius’ for her innate shuttlecock talent. However, when she sets a goal, she doesn’t take a single day off, and when asked “what do you do when you rest,” she is a ‘hard worker’ who is speechless. When she loses, she stands up again, challenges again, and overcomes in the end.
In September 2023, she is ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games. This competition, where all eyes on Korean sports are poured, is also a competition in which Korean badminton, which only won a no medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and one bronze medal in women’s doubles at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is also a competition to challenge to restore its honor.
Ahn Se-young stands at the center. In March, she won the Jeonyeong Open, the largest major badminton open competition, and gave Korea a gold medal 27 years after Bang Soo-hyun in 1996, starting 2023 with a bang.
On the occasion of the 18th anniversary of its founding, Sports Kyunghyang talked about dreams with Ahn Se-young. Ahn Se-young, who was training at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province to prepare for the World Mixed Team Badminton Championships (Sudirman Cup), which started on the 14th in Suzhou, China, said, “I have a record of winning all competitions once, and if everyone says ‘badminton,’ Ahn Se-young I want to make it possible for the day to come when I can think of “. 2023 is the starting point.
■After the Tokyo Olympics
Ahn Se-young cried after being eliminated in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. 19-year-old Ahn Se-young, who trained hard for three years without a single day of idleness, but failed to advance to the semifinals after losing to the same opponent, Chen Yu-fei (China), said, “If you can’t do it even after working so hard, you must work harder, right?” I shed tears. She said, “She said her mom didn’t take ten shots and she said there were no falling trees, but she seems to still be there. Ahn Se-young, who also vowed, “I will continue to challenge her,” said Ahn Se-young, who started her career on the international stage.
Chen Yufei was a ‘natural enemy’ to Ahn Se-young. At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, he met him in the first round and lost 0-2 and was eliminated, and at the first Olympics, he knelt down in the quarterfinals. However, things have changed since last year. Ahn Se-young, who had lost seven matches, continues to beat Chen Yu-fei, whom she first defeated at the Malaysian Masters last July. This year, after winning 2-1 in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open in January, winning the championship by defeating 2-1 in the final of the Jeonyeong Open at the end of March, they met again in the semifinals of the Asian Championships at the end of April and won 2-1. They have won their last 3 games in a row, making their opponent record 4 wins and 8 losses.
Ahn Se-young said, “Since I lost to that player in the first Asian Games, I thought I would definitely meet him at the Olympics, so I exercised enough to not regret it, but I couldn’t win, so tears came out at that time.” He’s glad he doesn’t have to hear the word ‘nemesis.’”
Ahn Se-young became a completely different player while defeating his natural enemy. It is because the most necessary weapon in his coat is the belief in himself.
Ahn Se-young said, “I didn’t believe in myself before. A lot of people said, ‘Why can’t you believe in yourself while training so hard?’ After defeating Chen Yufei once and twice, that part has changed. I felt that if I did it, it would be real, so I think there is no player who can’t win now.” I think I can achieve my goals only when I beat such players in the Asian Games and Olympics in the future.”
Ahn Se-young, who has grown up experiencing pain and glory several times in the sixth year of the Taegeuk mark, also gained know-how for self-management. Ahn Se-young said, “Before, I just ran a lot and did everything I liked, but now through experience, I definitely know what I need and exercise. Now, I don’t exercise as ignorantly as before,” he laughed.
■ Jeon-Young Open After that,
winning the Jeon-Young Open changed many things for Ahn Se-young. Along with the confidence to beat his nemesis on the biggest stage, he also brought the burden and responsibility of ‘the first time since Bang Soo-hyun’ into reality. The gold medal won by Ahn Se-young was a dream that could not be achieved even though strong players ranked at the top of the world rankings, such as Bang Soo-hyun, Jeon Jae-yeon, and Seong Ji-hyun, tried.
Everyone’s expectation that she would achieve her dream of world domination in the women’s singles someday after being selected for the national team by beating adult players in her third year of middle school turned into a real great possibility with her victory at the Jeonyeong Open.
The glory of experiencing her growing expectations is raising a sense of burden and responsibility to Ahn Se-young to some extent. “The fact that she will ride downhill one day is her biggest concern right now,” she said. There are times when I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about what to do when that time comes.”
However, she has a great ‘mentor’ to Ahn Se-young. Last year, she retired and turned into a leader. Currently, she is coach Seong Ji-hyun, who coaches the national women’s singles players. Coach Seong Ji-hyeon, who was the biggest star of the women’s singles right before Ahn Se-young, was the main character who challenged herself with the burden of ‘first since Bang Su-hyeon’ throughout her career.
Ahn Se-young said, “I don’t know how to handle such a burden, but coach Seong Ji-hyun tells me a lot. ‘It’s the homework you need to bring, but there’s a lot of work to do while thinking about it’ and ‘Do it while thinking about one game at a time. No matter what anyone says, just listen to what you want to hear and don’t get lost in it.” So this year’s goal is to play a game that I can be happy and enjoy, and it’s going well. I have a strong mentality,” he laughed.
■My dream is Shuttlecock’s Grand Slam
Ahn Se-young said, “My goal is to become ‘Ahn Se-young when it comes to badminton’.” He said he wanted to become a full-fledged player who could be a role model for everyone. If sincerity should be accompanied by long-lasting results, this year, 2023, is the starting point.
Ahn Se-young said, “Just as winning all four major tournaments in tennis is called a grand slam, my ultimate goal is to have a title that I can do. It is my dream to win all competitions at all levels, but now only the three biggest competitions remain.”메이저사이트
In badminton, open competitions are held under the name of ‘BWF (World Badminton Federation) World Tour’ in five grades, including the Super 100, 300, 500, 750, and 1000 series. Ahn Se-young, who won the 1000-class competition, the Jeonyoung Open, the biggest among them, and won all of them at the age of 21, even conquered the World Tour Finals, the ‘King of Kings’ last year. Now, the World (Individual) Championships, Asian Games, and Olympics remain.
In the history of badminton in Korea, the only players who have won the Olympics, Asian Games, and World Championships are Park Joo-bong and Kim Moon-soo in men’s doubles, and Kim Dong-moon who switched pairs and won mixed doubles. In the world championships, Bang Su-hyeon also won the runner-up in Birmingham, England in 1993 as the best result, and in singles, no player has ever won all three. Ahn Se-young’s dream is also the first badminton dream in Korea.
Two of them will be held this year. The World Championships will be held in Denmark in August, and the Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China in September. The Olympic ranking points race for next year’s Paris Olympics began in May. It will be difficult to achieve them all at once, but 2023 is the starting point to break through one by one.
Ahn Se-young said, “Since the Olympic race has begun, I will try to aim for the world championships before the Asian Games after creating some stability. The goal is to get rid of the upcoming things one by one,” he said. “There is a long way to go. Everyone sets the goal of winning a gold medal and works hard, but the more I train, the more confident I become. I think that is my biggest weapon,” he laughed. Ahn Se-young’s step towards the history of badminton in Korea has begun.