An Se-young
- Ranking
- No. 1
- Nation
- KOR
- Born
- 5 Feb 2002
- Titles listed
- 12
An Se-young has lost one match in 2026. She is world No. 1 with 122,287 points on the BWF list of 27 October, 18,561 ahead of Akane Yamaguchi. The French Open on 25 October was her tenth title of the year and her 50th consecutive win; the last defeat was the All England final in March.
Who she is
Born on 5 February 2002 in Gwangju, An came onto the tour as a teenager and won the World Tour Finals in 2021 at 19. The run since then covers everything the sport offers: the 2023 World Championships in Copenhagen, the Paris 2024 Olympic gold, two All England titles (2023, 2025), two World Tour Finals (2021, 2025), two Asian Games golds (2022, 2026) and a second world title in New Delhi in August 2026.
She plays through things. Korean press reported that she complained of pain near her right Achilles during the Denmark Open final, and the Korea Badminton Association described it as a bruise. A week later she won the French Open from a game down against P. V. Sindhu.
How she plays
An’s game is built on defence and depth. She is quick enough to reach almost everything, and she returns smashes with a flat, controlled block that gives the attacker nothing to hit down on the next shot. The pattern a club player should watch is how rarely she lifts short. Her clears and lifts land within a racket length of the back line, so opponents attack from deep and tire quickly.
She is not a one-paced retriever, though. When the rally slows or the opponent’s clear falls short, she steps in and finishes, usually with a steep smash to the body or a tight net shot that forces a lift. The deciding games this year (Singapore Open from 16-19 down, Denmark Open, French Open) show the other half of the method: she does not panic when behind, because her rallies are long enough that a three-point deficit is not much.
Her weakness, if it is one, is physical load. The style costs a lot of running, and she has withdrawn injured (Japan Open 2026) and played on with a reported Achilles problem (Denmark and French Opens) in the same season.
2026 so far
Ten titles, one defeat, 66 wins from 67 matches at the time of the French Open final.
| Tournament | Dates | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia Open (Super 1000) | 6 to 11 Jan | Won, bt Wang Zhiyi 21-15, 24-22 |
| India Open (Super 750) | 13 to 18 Jan | Won, bt Wang Zhiyi 21-13, 21-11 |
| All England Open (Super 1000) | 3 to 8 Mar | Final, lost to Wang Zhiyi 15-21, 19-21 |
| Asian Championships, Ningbo | April | Gold, bt Wang Zhiyi 21-12, 17-21, 21-18 |
| Uber Cup, Horsens | Spring | Gold with Korea, bt China in the final |
| Singapore Open (Super 750) | 26 to 31 May | Won, bt Akane Yamaguchi 21-11, 17-21, 21-19 |
| Indonesia Open (Super 1000) | 2 to 7 Jun | Won, bt Akane Yamaguchi 23-21, 21-12 |
| Japan Open (Super 750) | 14 to 19 Jul | Withdrew injured |
| World Championships, New Delhi | 17 to 23 Aug | Gold, bt Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-14 |
| China Masters (Super 750) | 1 to 6 Sep | Won, bt Tomoka Miyazaki 21-17, 21-6 |
| Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya | September | Gold, bt Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 |
| Denmark Open (Super 750) | 13 to 18 Oct | Won, bt Akane Yamaguchi 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 |
| French Open (Super 750) | 20 to 25 Oct | Won, bt P. V. Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 |
Titles
The major ones: Olympic gold (Paris 2024); World Championships gold (2023, 2026) and bronze (2022, 2025); All England (2023, 2025); BWF World Tour Finals (2021, 2025); Asian Games singles gold (2022, 2026); Asian Championships gold (2026). Super 1000 titles: Indonesia Open (2021, 2025, 2026), All England (2023, 2025), China Open (2023), Malaysia Open (2024, 2025, 2026).
Her career total stood at 48 singles titles after the French Open.
What to watch for
Two numbers. She won 11 titles in 2025; one more in 2026 equals it and two sets a single-season record for singles. The remaining chances are the Asian Super 500s in November and the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in December, where she is defending champion. The other factor is the Achilles complaint from Odense, which the association called a bruise; the November events come soon after it.
Try this at your next session: ten minutes of lifts from the net to a target in each back corner, a racket length inside the line. Deep lifts are the least glamorous shot in badminton, and they are why An Se-young wins third games.