"An Se-young is on the path to becoming the greatest of all time." Too many victories mean some results are excluded from ranking calculations... 'Foreign media also praise' her 100 consecutive weeks at world No. 1

*This content was translated by AI.

'Badminton Empress' An Se-young (Samsung Life) has set a milestone with 100 consecutive weeks at world No. 1, and foreign media have also praised her as she moves toward becoming the 'greatest of all time (GOAT).'

As the face of Korean badminton and the world's top female singles player, An Se-young has held the world No. 1 ranking for 100 consecutive weeks as of the 8th.

Indonesian sports media Ligaola on the 6th highlighted An Se-young's dominance in the world rankings, stating, "World No. 1 in women's singles An Se-young is walking the path to becoming the greatest player of all time."

It further explained, "This is because her performance and results in international tournaments over the past year have been far superior to those of other players."

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings are calculated by summing the points from up to 10 tournaments where a player earned the highest scores among all events participated in during the last 52 weeks. Achieving good results in just one or two tournaments is not enough to maintain the world No. 1 position for an extended period. Consistently accumulating top-tier results is essential.

However, An Se-young has won so many titles that some of her championship victories were not even included in the ranking calculations at the time.

The media explained that although An Se-young won the Singapore Open (Super 750) in May, she had already secured higher ranking points in other tournaments, so this result was not reflected in the rankings. She continued to achieve results of such a high level that even after winning, there was no need to utilize all those achievements.

Recently, An Se-young's momentum remained fierce. Following her victory at the 2026 BWF World Championships, she also swept the BWF World Tour China Masters (Super 750), which concluded on the 6th, winning two consecutive tournaments.

Her path to victory was even more overwhelming. An Se-young achieved 'perfect victories' in both the World Championships and the China Masters, never dropping a single game against her opponents.

At the World Championships, she sequentially defeated strong title contenders. She overcame Wang Zhiyi of China (world No. 2) 2-0 in the semifinals and then completely dominated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan (world No. 3) 2-0 in the final.

Through this, An Se-young returned to the top of the World Championships for the first time since 2023, three years later.

She continued her momentum at the China Masters as well. In the final, she defeated Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan (world No. 9) 2-0, achieving the feat of winning the tournament for three consecutive times.

Especially significant is that these back-to-back victories were achieved shortly after An Se-young returned from injury.

An Se-young withdrew from the round of 16 at the 2026 BWF Japan Open held in Japan last July due to pain on the outer side of her left foot. She then focused solely on rehabilitation and recovery without participating in the China Open either.

As she had been away from competitive play for some time, there were concerns about her match sharpness, but upon returning to the court, she has continued with overwhelming performance that makes any gap invisible.

Now, An Se-young's focus turns to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Another chapter of history awaits.

An Se-young won gold medals in women's singles and women's team events at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023. If she reaches the top of women's singles at this Aichi-Nagoya tournament, she will become the first Korean female player to achieve back-to-back Asian Games women's singles titles.

At the media day for the Bae Deu-min-teon (CEO) team held at the National Athlete Village in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province on the 8th, An Se-young said, "The Asian Games does not feel particularly special to me. Having competed in so many tournaments and played so many matches, I see it as just another foreign competition."

Nevertheless, she clearly emphasized the significance of competing at the Asian Games under the national emblem.

An Se-young stated, "If the Asian Games is special, it's because we wear the Taegeuk mark and the national anthem plays when we stand on the podium. I will do my best to hear our national anthem at this Asian Games as well."

Compared to the Hangzhou tournament three years ago, her experience and composure have greatly increased. An Se-young explained, "Three years ago in Hangzhou, I didn't feel confident in my play and couldn't enjoy it. Now, with much more experience and calmness, things are different."

However, even at the top of the world, she remains vigilant. An Se-young said firmly, "In every match, every player is a rival. Anything can happen during a game. I believe we must always be prepared for everything. That's why I strive to prepare even more perfectly."

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*This content was translated by AI.