"An Se-young's record doesn't look like something a human achieved" — China marvels at her 55-game winning streak... even invoking the name of their own Olympic two-time defending champion legend

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

As South Korea's badminton "queen," An Se-young (24, Samsung Life), extended her winning streak to 55 games, praise also emerged from China.

Indonesian sports outlet Ligaolahraga reported on the 12th (Korean time) that "Chinese media also agree that An Se-young is the greatest badminton player in history," adding that "even China, a 'nation of 1.4 billion people,' has no choice but to acknowledge An Se-young as the world's strongest player."

According to the report, Chinese media outlet NetEase previously praised her performance while reporting on An Se-young's victory at the Korea Open.

An Se-young claimed the title in the women's singles final of the Korea Open held on the 8th at Yeosu Jinam Gymnasium in Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Jeolla Province, defeating world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 21-16).

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

This season, An Se-young has played 72 matches, recording a 71-1 record with a winning percentage of 98.6%. Her only defeat came against China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March. Since then, she has won 55 consecutive matches up to the Korea Open final. During that span, An Se-young also secured gold medals at the World Championships and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Ligaolahraga noted that "An Se-young, who also won this tournament in 2022 and 2023, lifted her third championship trophy at the Korea Open," adding that "this allows her to share the record for the most women's singles titles in tournament history with Bang Soo-hyun, who stood atop the podium in 1993, 1994, and 1996."

The outlet further pointed out that An Se-young is on the verge of setting a new single-season winning percentage record. It reported, "An Se-young recorded 73 wins and 4 losses in 77 matches last year, for a winning percentage of 94.81%. This year, she appears poised to surpass her own record again."

Her career title count has also increased. After surpassing Indonesia's Susy Susanti's career record of 46 titles at the Denmark Open last month, An Se-young captured her 49th career title by winning the Korea Open following the French Open.

In China, even the name of Lin Dan, a legendary men's badminton player the country takes pride in, was brought up. NetEase highly praised her, stating, "The story An Se-young is writing now seems comparable to that of Lin Dan," and adding, "It is not because Lin Dan was weak, but because An Se-young is too strong."

Regarding An Se-young's performance this season, the outlet marveled, "Look at these numbers. A 55-game winning streak and 11 titles. It doesn't look like a record achieved by a human."

Lin Dan, known by the nickname "Super Dan," is a representative player of Chinese badminton. He won the gold medal in the men's singles final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by defeating rival Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia). Four years later, he also won at the London Olympics, achieving a two-time title. He has also stood atop the podium five times at the World Championships.

An Se-young was also asked about comparisons with Lin Dan in December last year. At the time, An Se-young responded, "It is an overrated assessment. I am greatly honored and happy to be mentioned alongside a legendary player."

A year later, as An Se-young's upward trend showed no signs of ending, China once again brought up Lin Dan's name. Ligaolahraga reported on this NetEase article that "Chinese media have begun to evaluate An Se-young more highly than Lin Dan, who held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 239 weeks."

Now, An Se-young will challenge for her 12th title of the season at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals to be held in Hangzhou, China, in December. There is one more record she can break at this tournament: Susanti's women's singles longest winning streak record (59-game winning streak).

Taiwan's Central News Agency also reported that "An Se-young is currently on a 55-game winning streak," adding that "if she wins all five matches from the group stage to the final at the World Tour Finals, she will set a world record with a 60-game winning streak."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original