The new year started with gold World No. 1 Ahn Se-young Wins 2nd consecutive Malaysian Open...2nd place in the world and 2nd consecutive tournament

Jan 12, 2025

South Korea's An Se Young celebrates victory against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in her women's singles badminton semifinals match at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament at Bukit Jalil Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kien Huo)

Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance), a gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, started the new year 2025 in a good mood.

World No. 1 Ahn Se-young defeated world No. 2 Wang Zhi of China 2-0 (21-17, 21-7) in the final of the '2025 Malaysia Open (Super 1000)' women's singles held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 12th.

Ahn Se-young, who won her second consecutive tournament following last year, won her first tournament of the new year for the second consecutive year, and continued her 9-4 advantage against Wang Zhi.

In particular, for Ahn Se-young, it was a victory that succeeded in revenge against Wang Zhiyi, who has recently emerged as China's emerging No. 1 player. Ahn Se-young lost to Wang Zhi in the Danish Open final, her first international tournament since returning from injury in October last year, and the semifinals of the world tour final in December.

South Korea's An Se Young returns a shot during her women's singles badminton second round match against Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament at Bukit Jalil Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Kien Huo)

Ahn Se-young, who played a real match in the final of the first international competition of the new year after losing consecutively, did not give Wang Zi a chance as if she came out with a strong determination on this day.

The start was a bit unsettling. After giving up the lead 8-11 first in the first game, Ahn Se-young, who entered the 'interval (operation time given after reaching 11 points), took a short breath and turned scary.

After the interval, Ahn's performance was 'I'll show you why I'm the best in the worldIt was perfect as if it were '. He recovered his accuracy from his stroke and easily cooked his opponent with a quick defensive response.

Wang Zhi, who was embarrassed by Ahn Se-young's soaring momentum, also made consecutive mistakes. In the meantime, Ahn Se-young scored nine consecutive points to lead 17-11.

epa11814153 An Se Young (R) of South Korea looks on her coach Rony Agustinus (L) on match between her and Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam during women's singles match at the of Petronas Malaysia Open 2025 in Bukit Jalil, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 09 January 2025. EPA/FAZRY ISMAIL

Since then, he allowed consecutive runs due to his opponent's wrong lineout judgment on his clear shot, but he succeeded in escaping the crisis by inducing the opponent's mistake again. Ahn Se-young, who made the game point with her seasoned net play in a situation where she was chased until 19-16, gave up one point due to her mistake and got off to a good start by inducing the last opponent's miss shot.

Ahn Se-young, who gained momentum after winning the first game completely, drove the momentum to win the second game early. Contrary to the first game, he faced the interval with a wide lead of 11-2. Since then, Ahn Se-young has played with Wang Zui with a seasoned game management reminiscent of a veteran in his 30s. He sent the ball to various courses left, right, and before and after, reducing Wang Zui's physical strength, and if the opponent was tired, he succeeded in scoring. Except for Ahn Se-young's occasional loss due to an offensive shot miss, the game was overwhelming.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.