When Ahn Se-young pierced her gold vein, her brothers responded Ahn Se-young + Seo Seung-jae Kim Won-ho won the Malay Open at the same time...Ahn Se-young won the first tournament of the new year for the second consecutive year

Jan 12, 2025

epa11819572 An Se Young of South Korea poses after winning the women's singles final match against Wang Zhi Yi of China at the Malaysia Open 2025 in Bukit Jalil, Malaysia, 12 January 2025. EPA/FAZRY ISMAIL<저작권자(c) Yonhap News, 무단 전재-재배포, AI 학습 및 활용 금지>

Korean badminton reported 'double gold medal' in its first international competition of the new year.

Seo Seung-jae (28) and Kim Won-ho (26, Samsung Life), who reunited with Paris Olympic gold medalist Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life), after five years, won gold medals in women's singles and men's doubles, respectively.

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 Zhi, 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 celebrates defeating China's Wang Zhi Yi in the women's singles badminton final match at the Malaysia Open tournament at Bukit Jalil Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Jan. 12, 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 a chance as if she came out with a strong determination. 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.

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.

South Korea's Kim Won Ho, right, and Seo Seung Jae celebrate defeating India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in their men's doubles badminton semifinal 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, 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 seasoned game management reminiscent of a veteran with decades of experience. 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.

In the men's doubles final, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho came from behind to win 2-1 (19-21, 21-12, 21-12) over Chen Bo-yang and Liu Yu (China). Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, who were in the doubles group from 2017 to 2020, were paired with different partners and reunited this year. For this reason, although the world ranking is still 248th, he boasted his record of playing as a top ranker in men's doubles, defeating the world's second-ranked China group in the quarterfinals of this tournament.

The South Korean team will travel to New Delhi, India, play the Indian Open (14th-19th) and return home on the 20th.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.