'AG fervor failed to shake' Park Jung-ah holds Star Ranking No. 1 for 31 consecutive weeks... even world's strongest An Se-young trails by over 10,000 votes

*This content was translated by AI.

'Clutch Park' Park Jung-ah (33, Korea Expressway Corporation) retained her throne despite the Asian Games fervor. She has now held the No. 1 spot for 31 consecutive weeks. Although 'Badminton Empress' An Se-young (24, Samsung Life) displayed her status as the world's strongest in Japan, fans' unwavering support for Park Jung-ah continued unabated.

Park Jung-ah earned the highest total of 13,020 votes during the one-week voting period for the 65th Star Ranking Star Sports women's vote, which ran from 3:01 p.m. on September 17 to 3:00 p.m. on the 24th, securing the top position.

With this result, Park Jung-ah has maintained her throne for 31 consecutive weeks since first rising to No. 1 in the 35th vote. For a period well exceeding six months, she never relinquished the No. 1 spot even once.

Fan support remains strong and shows no signs of waning. In the previous 64th vote, Park Jung-ah received 13,790 votes, recovering to the 10,000-vote range from the 63rd vote's 6,216 votes. This time, she again garnered 13,020 votes, recording over 10,000 votes for two consecutive weeks.

Notably, during this voting period, the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games opened, drawing unprecedented attention to national team athletes. Although Park Jung-ah did not compete in this tournament, she maintained an overwhelming lead in the Star Ranking, surpassing even the Asian Games stars.

An Se-young took second place. She earned 2,976 votes, holding the No. 2 spot for five consecutive weeks. This was a decrease of 185 votes from the 3,161 votes she received in the 64th vote. The gap between her and first-place Park Jung-ah stands at 10,044 votes.

While An Se-young could not surpass Park Jung-ah's barrier in the Star Ranking, she demonstrated herself as the undisputed world's strongest on the court.

On the 23rd, An Se-young competed as the first singles player for South Korea against Japan in the women's team badminton semi-final at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, during the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. She defeated world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 21-11). Earlier, in the quarterfinals against Malaysia, she also decisively defeated world No. 28 Leachana Karupathevan 2-0 in just 33 minutes.

However, after An Se-young's initial victory, South Korea lost three consecutive matches and suffered a comeback defeat to Japan with a match score of 1-3. Having aimed for back-to-back gold medals in the women's team event following the 2022 Hangzhou Games, South Korea concluded the tournament with a bronze medal.

Although the bid for gold in the team event was dashed, An Se-young's Asian Games campaign is not yet over. In the women's singles, she will challenge for back-to-back individual titles following her 2022 Hangzhou Games victory.

Third place was also held by 'Ppyak-yagi' Shin Yu-bin (22, Korean Air), who is competing at the Asian Games. Shin Yu-bin received 1,035 votes, securing a spot in the top three for four consecutive weeks. This represents an increase of 55 votes from the 980th votes she earned in the previous 64th vote.

Following Shin Yu-bin, 'Cuteful' Park Hyun-kyung (26, Mediheal) of women's golf maintained fourth place with 373 votes. Volleyball star Kim Hee-jin (35, Hyundai Construction) secured fifth place with 282 votes.

The Star Ranking is a system where fans directly vote for their favorite stars via the StarNews website to determine rankings. Currently, female sports stars from various disciplines including volleyball, badminton, table tennis, basketball, golf, and short track are competing for fan support.

The 66th Star Ranking Star Sports women's vote will run from 3:01 p.m. on the 24th until 3:00 p.m. on October 1.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.