Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), the world's best badminton player, who had to swallow her disappointment in the team competition, is now tying her shoelaces again.
Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), an 'absolute top' who has difficulty finding a worthy opponent, is embarking on a full-fledged golden race to become the first woman in Asian Games history to win two consecutive women's singles titles.
Ahn Se-young will begin her individual schedule starting with the badminton women's singles round of 32 at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 26th.
In the women's team semifinal held earlier, Ahn Se-young was the first runner and won the 'preview final' against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi (world ranking 3rd), but Korea lost 1-3 and failed to advance to the final.
Ahn Se-young is determined to overcome the disappointment of the team event with a gold medal in the individual event.
Due to the nature of the Asian stage, where badminton powerhouses such as Korea, China, and Japan are concentrated, the Asian Games are evaluated as 'more difficult to win than the Olympics.'
However, considering Ahn Se-young's recent unrivaled progress, expectations for a second consecutive victory in the competition are higher than ever.
If Ahn Se-young, who swept the team event and singles event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, wins the singles event at this tournament, she will achieve the great feat of winning two consecutive titles for the first time in the history of the women's badminton singles event at the Asian Games.
Ahn Se-young has evolved further since the previous competition.
Unlike in the past when they formed a top four structure with Akane Yamaguchi (Japan), Yufei Chen (China), and Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan), they have now established a solid 'top one' system.
Various records prove this. Last year, Ahn Se-young achieved major milestones, including tying the record for the most wins ever in a single season (11 wins), the highest winning percentage ever for a singles player (94.8%), and the highest accumulated prize money ever ($1,003,175).
This season, with the exception of the All England Open last March, she won gold medals in all nine competitions she participated in, including the team event.
In particular, after losing in the All England Open final, they went on to win 35 games in a row including the team event in this tournament, surpassing the astonishing 98% win rate.
Ahn Se-young, who passed the round of 64 with a bye, is likely to meet Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon (5th place) in the quarterfinals, and if she meets Chen Yufei (4th place, China), they are expected to clash in the semifinals of the bracket.
However, for Ahn Se-young now, the match does not mean much.
Ahn Se-young holds an absolute advantage over world number 2 Wang Zhiyi (China) with 13 wins and 1 loss in the last 14 matches.
So much so that the Chinese media and fans even coined a new word, 'public anxiety syndrome' (恐安症), in reference to the situation of their country's players who were unable to exert any effort towards Ahn Se-young.
He is currently on an 8-game winning streak against 3rd ranked Yamaguchi, and has also won 4 straight games against 4th ranked Chen Yufei, who was once a difficult opponent, and has clearly shed the 'natural enemy' tag.
Meanwhile, Korea, which has set a goal of winning three gold medals, one silver medal, and two bronze medals in badminton at this tournament, is also looking forward to the performance of the men's doubles and women's doubles.
Men's doubles 'golden duo' Seung-jae Seo and Won-ho Kim are also preparing for a rebound.
Although he has slowed down a bit recently by missing out on winning six consecutive tournaments, the power of the world's No. 1 player cannot be ignored.
They, who won 11 crowns last season and tied the record for most wins in a single season alongside Ahn Se-young, are preparing for this stage as a brilliant opportunity to regain their honor.
They also passed the round of 64 by default and will play in the round of 32 starting on the 26th.
At the World Championships last month, the momentum of Lee So-hee and Baek Hana (Incheon International Airport), who reached the top of the women's doubles for the first time in 31 years since Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ok in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1995, was also strong.
These two suffered consecutive defeats as the second doubles runners in the previous women's team event, but took advantage of this to challenge for the top spot in the individual event.
Lee So-hee and Baek Hana will also advance to the round of 32 starting on the 26th.
