(Yeongjongdo = Yonhap News) Reporter Seol Ha-eun = Ahn Se-yong (Samsung Life Insurance) Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals Return ‘Battle of Kings’ An exciting year has come to an end.
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Ahn Se-yong returned to Korea on the 16th at Incheon International Airport.
Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na (World No. 2), who won the women’s titles at the BWF World Tour Finals, are also back in Korea.
Ahn Se-yong emerges as the arrival hall door opens and rushes out of the airport with the officers.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-yong lost 0-2 (17-21 14-21) to China’s Wang Xiyi (2nd) in the women’s singles final at the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China 11-15.
The BWF World Tour Finals is a tournament that ends the season of international badminton competition and is a tournament where only the top eight players (teams) participate to determine the strongest player.
Ahn Se-yong tried to take first place in this competition for the first time since 2021, but she failed to achieve her goal.
After many twists and turns, Ahn Se-Young, who has finished the year, will rest for a while and prepare for the next year.
Ahn Se-yong, who won the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last year, suffered a knee injury in the process.
After taking five weeks of rest and rehabilitation after the Asian Games, he spent a short period of time in the dark, failing to reach the finals in all three events he participated in.
This year his performances have been up and down due to injuries.
After winning one race, he was plagued by muscle injuries and lack of energy in the next.
Although the knee injury cannot be improved in the short term, he has worked hard to adapt to the pain and play according to his physical condition.
Finally, he climbed to the top of the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics and enjoyed his best time.
The tears of joy didn’t last long.
It soon turned into tears of anger and sadness.
Gold medalist Ahn Se-yong harshly criticized the national team’s handling of injuries and comeback tactics, saying, “My injury was unexpectedly severe, and I had a hard time in the national team.”
In addition, Ahn Se-yong pointed out not only the national team’s injury management, but also the national team’s training and practice methods, the Korea Badminton Association’s decision-making system, private sponsorship of the national team, and new regulations regarding player salaries. .
Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has asked the Badminton Association to investigate President Kim Taek-gyu for corruption and breach of trust.
After making a statement, Ahn Se-yong, who had not participated in domestic or international competitions, made a comeback at the National Sports Festival last October and showed off her skills in front of local fans.
She finished second at the Denmark Open in October, her first international tournament since the Olympics, and won the China Masters in November, receiving the BWF Female Athlete of the Year award for two consecutive years.
She has also won two awards as the ‘Women Athlete of the Year’.
However, at the Battle of the Kings World Tour Finals, he faced another setback in defeating his new natural enemy, losing again to Wang Xiyi, who had bowed out in the finals of the Denmark Open.