An Se-young, who has achieved a 55-match winning streak and an 11th title of the season, could not surpass her! Park Jeong-a holds the Star Ranking No. 1 spot for 37 consecutive weeks, breaking the 10,000-vote mark for the third straight week

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The momentum of An Se-young (24, Samsung Life Insurance), who has dominated world badminton, is intensifying even in fan voting. While she set a historic record with an 11th title of the season and a 55-match winning streak, her Star Ranking vote count increased by more than 60% in just one week. However, the throne of "Clutch Park" Park Jeong-a (33, Korea Expressway Corporation) remained solid. She has now held the No. 1 spot for 37 consecutive weeks.

Park Jeong-a topped the rankings by securing the highest number of votes, 13,942, in the 72nd Star Ranking Star Sports women's poll, which was conducted over a one-week period from 3:01 p.m. on the 5th to 3:00 p.m. on the 12th.

With this result, Park Jeong-a has maintained her throne for an impressive 37 consecutive weeks since first reaching No. 1 in the 35th poll. For a period of over eight months, she has never once relinquished the top spot, demonstrating an unparalleled fan base among female sports stars.

In particular, the firepower from fans has grown even stronger. Park Jeong-a, who received 10,767 votes in the previous 71st poll, secured 13,942 votes this time, an increase of 3,175 votes. The rate of increase is approximately 29.5%. Following her 10,798 votes in the 70th poll, she has recorded over 10,000 votes for three consecutive weeks, proving her consistent popularity.

Recently, with the start of the 2026-2027 V-League season, fan interest in Park Jeong-a continues. Park Jeong-a, who returned to her former team, Korea Expressway Corporation, after three years since the 2022-2023 season, is spending the new season once again in front of fans in Gimcheon.

However, what drew more attention in this poll was the rising trend of An Se-young, who held the No. 2 spot. An Se-young secured 7,613 votes to maintain her second-place position. This was an increase of a massive 2,879 votes compared to the 4,734 votes in the previous 71st poll. Her vote count increased by approximately 60.8% in just one week.

Judging solely by recent performance, she is truly the world's strongest player. An Se-young claimed the top spot in the women's singles final of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Korea Open, held on the 8th at Yeosu Jinnam Gymnasium, by defeating world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) with a game score of 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 21-16).

With this victory, An Se-young lifted her 11th championship trophy of the season. She has achieved an 11-title season for the second consecutive year, following last year, matching the single-season singles most-wins record set by Japan's Kento Momota in 2019. An Se-young is the first singles player to win 11 titles in two consecutive seasons.

Even more remarkable is her overwhelming winning percentage. An Se-young has recorded a 71-1 record with a 98.6% winning rate this year. After losing to China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March, she won an impressive 55 consecutive matches.

In particular, her victory over Yamaguchi in the Korea Open final after a close match that went to three games continued another record. An Se-young has won all 22 matches since December 2024 where the game score was tied at 1-1. This demonstrates her concentration, which rarely crumbles even against world-class players.

Along with such performances, An Se-young's vote count in the Star Ranking also increased significantly. The gap between Park Jeong-a and An Se-young is 6,329 votes, slightly widening from the 6,033-vote gap in the previous 71st poll, but as both players' vote counts surged, the competition for fan support among female sports stars has become even more heated.

Third place was taken by "Bipyao-i" Shin Yu-bin (22, Korean Air). Shin Yu-bin secured 1,245 votes to maintain her position in the upper ranks. This was a decrease of 65 votes from the 1,310 votes in the previous 71st poll.

Shin Yu-bin has continued consistent performances on the international stage this year. She won a bronze medal in mixed doubles with Lim Jong-hoon at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September, and in October, she reached the top of the China Smash mixed doubles event, once again proving her world-class competitiveness. Fourth place was taken by "Cute" Park Hyeon-kyung (26, Medihill) of women's golf. Park Hyeon-kyung secured 315 votes to maintain her fourth-place position. Fifth place was claimed by Yoon I-na (23, Solar), who received 283 votes.

Star Ranking is a system where fans directly vote for their favorite stars through the StarNews homepage to determine rankings. Stars selected based on voting results are given various privileges. Currently, female sports stars in various disciplines such as volleyball, badminton, table tennis, basketball, golf, and short track speed skating are competing for fan selection.

The 73rd Star Ranking Star Sports women's poll will be conducted from 3:01 p.m. on the 12th to 3:00 p.m. on the 19th.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original