An Se-young is recognised for raising the sport's profile in the Republic of Korea. She has become a pioneer of the game and has broadened its reach in the country's sports landscape, making it more popular and significant than ever before, while rising to the top of the women's world badminton rankings.
An Se-young's early beginnings and junior success
The Korean athlete's journey to national stardom began at a young age. In 2017, at only 15, she guided her team to triumph at the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta. Despite still being a junior high student, she joined the senior national team and soon gained a significant following in her country.
The young star won her first BWF World Tour title in 2019 at the Super 300 New Zealand Open, defeating the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Li Xuerui, in the final.
An achieved remarkable feats throughout that year, winning the Canada Open, Akita Masters, French Open, and Korean Masters titles. Her outstanding performances earned her the BWF Most Promising Player of the Year award, which catapulted her onto the international stage and transformed her from a local sensation to a global icon.
An Se-young: From global champion to world number one
International acclaim for her achievements reached new heights when Forbes acknowledged her in their Asia 30 under 30 list in the entertainment and sports category in 2020.
Due to the global pandemic, most of the BWF World Tour events in 2020 and the first half of 2021 were cancelled, significantly impacting progress for many players, including An, who saw her career rise slow down, and her World Tour Ranking go south. Nonetheless, she was one of the prospects to watch at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, where she made her Olympic debut. She reached the quarter-finals but lost to Chinese star and eventual gold medallist Chen Yufei.
In August 2023, An reached the pinnacle of her career, becoming the first athlete from the Republic of Korea to win a badminton World Championship title. She achieved a perfect tournament record by defeating Olympic gold medallists Chen Yufei and Carolina Marin. After the historic victory, she became the new number-one player on the Women's BWF Singles World Rankings.
Her status as the best player in the world was further cemented when she defeated China's Chen Yufei once again to win Asian Games gold in October 2023.
An Se-young's Ambitions for Paris 2024
As the young star looks ahead to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, she aims to enjoy the spotlight and deliver performances that bring joy to the Korean people. Her ultimate goal is to emulate compatriot Bang Soo-hyun, who won a historic gold medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics for the Asian nation.
"If you think of it as pressure, it becomes pressure,” she told Olympics.com. “I’d rather enjoy the spotlight on me. That’s why I always try to perform well and celebrate as much as possible so the Korean people can enjoy what I’m doing as well. If I give my all in every game I play, I think I’ll be able to reach my goals.”
