An Se Young: New undisputed face in women's singles badminton

An Se Young is the reigning Olympic gold medalist.

“Law of averages” is a phrase that isn’t unheard of in any sport. It signifies the fact that an athlete’s graph can’t just have crests; one is sure to encounter a trough soon enough. There have been a few generational talents who have defied this and remained at the top for a long time.

In the last few years, badminton has found a player who has maintained an outstanding consistency despite facing off-court problems.

An Se Young – a name that would go down in badminton history a decade later. Just one stat is enough to show the magnitude of her dominance this year – she has lost only six sets in 38 matches this year, and is undefeated in all of them.

An unrealistic phase that began just before the pandemic has now been taken up a notch. She has played in 38 finals on the BWF Tour, winning 29 of them.

Spree of titles

Eight titles in 2023 and four in 2024. Young has already surpassed her record from last year, winning the Malaysia Open, India Open, Orleans Masters, All England Open, Indonesia Open, and Japan Open, but only failed to reach the top of the podium at the Singapore Open. Do note that the list includes two Super 1000 tournaments.

To add to this- the World No. 1 won two golds at the Hangzhou Asian Games (Women’s Singles and Women’s Team), the World Championship gold in 2023 (after a bronze the previous year) and finally added to her cabinet the biggest laurel the sport has to offer- the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Most would be happy to have half of this at the end of their careers. Young is currently aged 23!

Triumphing at the biggest stage

Here is a player who knows just how to make things happen, even when she isn’t at her best. For instance, she seemed to be in perilous waters in the Olympic semi-finals. She lost the first set (11-21) against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

However, she displayed her class in the next two sets, bringing about a sensational turnaround to clinch them 21-13 and 21-16. The shuttler then went on to rout He Bingjiao 21-13, 21-16 in the final, displaying the huge gap that exists in the playing field.

Even more sensational, she was recovering from a knee injury, which she alleged was mismanaged by the South Korean federation. There is no greater example of his determination – his ability to persevere despite problems on and off the field.

No chink in the armor

Young is an all-round player with barely any weaknesses. When her playing style is compared with other top players it is observed that her body and shoulder rotation is minimal.

This allows her to maintain her body balance, which allows her to get back into position for quick returns. While this is the core of her defense, her repertoire of shots then is a handful for any opponent.

For context, Young has played against eighteen BWF World Tour Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists. She has a win-loss ratio less than one against just three of them, that too a difference (total wins-total losses) of just -1. Sung Ji-Hyun, Akane Yamaguchi, and Chen Yufei, who is incidentally the only player to have defeated her this year.

Every player has a nemesis. Not Young, though. She has been a thorn in the flesh for every Indian fan, considering PV Sindhu has not tasted success against the Korean in seven attempts.

Marching towards greatness

Young continues to break records and scale every hurdle, event after event. Having attained this stature at the age of 23, one would wonder where she would be a couple of years down the line. Even a top 10 player would need to be at her best and hope that the Korean is not in rhythm, to stand a chance of beating her. Else, no force can stop this new undisputed face in women’s singles badminton.

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