Ahn Se-young's "shocking abstention loss" showed his "grandfather's heart" to his arch-rival... He even left a message and said, "I mean it."

*This content was translated by AI.

Ahn Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance), the world No. 1 badminton women's singles player, showed her great heart in the news of her archrival Chen Yu-fei's shocking withdrawal defeat. He left a message in person and expressed his true feelings.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on the 10th (Korea time) that "Cheon Yu-fei withdrew" ahead of the semifinals of the women's singles at the 2026 BWF World Tour Super 1000 Malaysia Open between An Se-young and Chen Yu-fei, which were scheduled to be held at Asiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He expressed regret over the failure of the confrontation in China. Chinese media Sohu reported on the same day, "The 29th face-off between Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei and Paris Olympic champion Ahn Se-young, which fans had most anticipated in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open, was canceled."

When news of Chen Yu-pay's withdrawal was reported, Ahn Se-young expressed her feelings by leaving a direct post on her social network service (SNS).

Ahn Se-young said, "I'm really sorry to hear that Chen Yu-fei and his injury caused him to withdraw from the game."

Ahn Se-young then said, "I feel more upset because both I and the fans were looking forward to the game with (Cheon Yu-fei). However, recovery comes first above all else, he stressed.

Finally, Ahn Se-young said, "I will recover quickly and wait for the moment to see you on the court again." Even if they fight fiercely like war inside the court, Ahn Se-young showed "humanism" outside the court.

Regarding Chen Yu-fei's reasons for abstaining, Sohu said, "Chen Yu-fei did not disclose specific reasons for abstention," but explained, "The recurrence of past injuries or accumulation of excessive fatigue seems to be the main cause."

Ahn Se-young's chances of winning are increasing due to the news of Chen Yu-fei's unexpected withdrawal. Ahn's record against Chen Yu-fei is 14 wins and 14 losses, which is truly tight. Even last season, it was Chen Yu-fei, who lost two games to Ahn Se-young. He deserves to be called the rival of the Badminton Empress.

Ahn Se-young's opponent in the final has been confirmed as world No. 2 Wang Zhi (China). Wang Zhi defeated India's Fusala Sindhu (18th) 2-0 (21-16 21-15) in the semifinals to advance to the final.

Even in the same China, Wang Zhiyu and Chen Yufei are evaluated as having different styles. Above all, Ahn Se-young is far ahead of Wang Zhiyu with 16 wins and 4 losses. The winning rate is as high as 80%. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a natural enemy. Last season, they clashed with Wang Zhiyu eight times, all of which were won by Ahn Se-young. Indeed, from the standpoint of Wang Zhi-yu, Ahn Se-young's existence itself can be said to be a fear. In the final of last month's Hangzhou BWF World Tour Finals, which was a recent showdown, Ahn Se-young defeated Wang Zhiyu 2-1 (21-13 18-21 21-10) after a close game.

Meanwhile, Ahn Se-young rose again as the strongest player by dominating the world badminton scene last year. In the 2025 season, he won three Super 1,000-grade competitions (Malaysia Open, Jeon Young Open, Indonesia Open), five Super 750-grade competitions (Indian Open, Japanese Open, Chinese Masters, Danish Open, French Open), Super 500 Australian Open, Super 300 Orléan Masters, and won 11 World Tour Finals.

In addition, it matched the record of the most wins (11 wins) in a single season set by Japanese male player Kento Momota in 2019. The record for the most wins in a single female singles player season was nine wins set by Ahn Se-young in 2023, but it has already exceeded. In addition, Ahn Se-young won 73 of 77 games this year, marking a landslide victory rate of 94.8%. This is a record that exceeds the season's highest winning rate (92.75%, 64 wins and 5 losses) set by Lin Dan of China in the men's singles in 2011.

The prize money was also very large. Ahn Se-young added $240,000 (about 340 million won) in prize money by winning the World Tour Finals, surpassing the accumulated prize money of $13,175 (about 1.44 billion won). Ahn Se-young is the first to open the era of $1 million in single season prize money. In the end, Ahn Se-young was selected as the BWF Female Player of the Year for the third consecutive year and the Player of the Year by her colleagues for the second consecutive year.

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*This content was translated by AI.