(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), the 'world's best' badminton player, who continues to make remarkable progress with a winning rate exceeding 98%, has won her 9th gold medal this year by reaching the top of the Denmark Open.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in women's singles, achieved a 2-1 (21-23 21-14 21-18) comeback victory over world number three Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) in the women's singles final of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 Denmark Open held in Odense, Denmark on the 18th (Korean time).
Ahn Se-young, an 'absolute powerhouse' who has difficulty finding a worthy opponent, has thus won 10 consecutive matches against Yamaguchi.
After achieving two consecutive women's singles titles in the previous Asian Games for the first time in the history of the competition, she also achieved the feat of winning two consecutive titles at the Denmark Open.
As a result, Ahn Se-young, who recorded 61 wins and 1 loss in 62 games played this year, continues to have an incredible win rate of 98.4%.
Excluding the All England Open, where he won a silver medal, he swept the gold medals by standing on the highest podium in all nine individual competitions he participated in this year, including the Asian Games.
Yamaguchi, who had been soundly defeated by Ahn Se-young in the finals of the previous Asian Games, appeared to be fully prepared and took the court.
Ahn Se-young, who was exploring in the early part of the first game, scored 6 points to take a 10-6 lead while trailing 4-6.
Afterwards, Ahn Se-young, who had taken the lead and was ahead, allowed three consecutive goals in the last minute and ended up tying the game at 18-18.
After a bloody close deuce match, Ahn Se-young made the final error, losing the first game at 21-23.
In the second game, where the team was down 11-13, Ahn Se-young scored 7 consecutive points to bring victory, and balanced the game score by easily winning 21-14.
However, in the early part of game 3, Ahn Se-young faltered sharply.
Ahn Se-young, who complained of discomfort during the game as if she had stepped on her right foot incorrectly, returned to the court after checking her condition, but the gap widened to 6 points after conceding a series of early goals.
At the interval, he was 5-11 behind Yamaguchi, who led the attack with accurate strokes.
However, the power of ‘World No. 1’ was fierce. At 9-12, Yamaguchi, who was out of stamina, made a series of lineouts and net errors, making the score tied at 12-12.
Against Yamaguchi, whose stamina was severely depleted, Ahn Se-young calmly led the rally, and took advantage of the opponent's poor shot accuracy to score 7 points, instantly turning the game around at 16-12.
Yamaguchi also pursued tenaciously, trailing by two points three times, but Ahn Se-young made a last-minute net error and reached the championship point first with a score of 20-17.
Yamaguchi, who was pushed to the brink, resisted until the end, making up for one point, but in the ensuing rally, the last receive went outside the court, and the long game ended with Ahn Se-young's thrilling comeback win.
Se-young Ahn lifted 11 championship trophies last year, tying the record with Kento Momota (Japan) for the most wins in a single season in men's and women's singles history.
With his current overwhelming performance, he is expected to easily surpass the record he set last year.
After completing the Denmark Open schedule, Ahn Se-young will immediately participate in the French Open starting on the 20th and challenge for another trophy.
Seyoung Ahn has pleasant memories of winning this competition three times in 2019, 2024, and 2025.
If he reaches the top in this tournament, he will win French Open supremacy for the fourth time in his career and at the same time lift the trophy for the 10th time this year.
Wang Ziyi (China, 2nd place) and Yamaguchi are all present.
For Ahn Se-young, the 'absolute top 1', the bracket does not mean much, but her first opponent in the round of 32 will be Pusala Sindhu (India, 10th place), and if she cruises, she is expected to face Yamaguchi again in the semifinals.
