An Se Young shatters multiple records with Korea Open 2023 title

The 21-year-old successfully defended her women's singles title.

An Se Young recently won the Korea Open 2023 title in style by defeating Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in straight games. It was a dominant performance from the South Korean shuttler as she went past the fourth seed by a 21-9, 21-15 score. 

The final was likely to be a tricky affair as An Se Young’s opponent beat World No.1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan to reach the summit clash. However, the 21-year-old made short work of her opponent, showcasing brilliant gameplay and dominance. Winning the Korea Open 2023 meant that An Se Young won her sixth BWF World Tour title of the year.

Her incredible hunger to win saw the South Korean win the All England Open as well earlier in the year. However, winning the Korea Open 2023 was special for several reasons. Here is a look at the records that she created by winning the BWF Super 500 event:

First badminton player to contest five finals

An Se Young of South Korea, upon reaching the final of the Korea Open 2023, became the first badminton player ever (across all five disciplines) to contest five finals in the BWF Super 300, 500, 750 and 1000 levels. It takes an unreal level of consistency to achieve this feat.

Interestingly, by reaching the final of the Korea Open 2023, she equalled Chinese badminton legend Li Xue Rui’s record of reaching nine finals in a year, and it is only July of 2023.

Never lost a BWF Super 500 final

Reaching a final is one thing but always coming out as the victor is another. An Se Young has never lost a BWF Super 500 event’s final contest. The Korea Open 2023 was also a Super 500 event and it was her fifth final win at this level. From the looks of it, it will take an exceptional amount of willpower from a player to defeat the talented South Korean.

First to win consecutive Korea Open titles in 22 years

Winning the Korea Open was a special occasion for the 21-year-old. She was the reigning champion in Women’s Singles discipline and had to stand up to the expectations of the home crowd. By securing the 2023 edition of the tournament, she became the first player in the Women’s Singles category to win consecutive Korea Open titles since Camilla Martin did it in 2000 and 2001, 22 years ago!

Ninth final of the year

An Se Young is playing like an unstoppable force in 2023. The South Korean shuttler is showing an incredible amount of hunger to win. The final of the Korea Open 2023 was her ninth final of the calendar year. Furthermore, it was also her sixth title of 2023. If she continues to perform in this way, then more records will be broken and set as the year progresses.

The BWF World Championships bronze medallist has her eyes set on the World No.1 rank held by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.