"Badminton Queen Emerges Under Boxing National Team Father": An Se-young's Unique Family Story Draws Foreign Media Attention — "Diligent Off-Court, Studies English Three Times a Week"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The unique family background of South Korea's badminton "Queen," An Se-young (24, Samsung Life), has drawn attention from overseas media.

Singapore's United Daily News introduced An Se-young's overwhelming performance, her growth process, and lesser-known anecdotes on the 9th (Korean time).

An Se-young won the women's singles final of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Korea Open (Super 500), held at the Yeosu Jinam Gymnasium in Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City on the 8th, by 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 achieved 11 wins in a single season for the second consecutive year, following last year. Previously, Japan's Kento Momota set a record of 11 wins in a single season in 2019, and An Se-young tied this record last year. By achieving the same feat again this year, she became the first player in men's or women's singles history to record 11 wins in a season for two consecutive years.

Her performance this season is also overwhelming. After losing to China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March last year, An Se-young has been on a streak of 55 consecutive wins. She has played 72 matches this year, recording 71 wins and 1 loss. Her win rate reaches an impressive 98.6%.

The media praised her, stating, "The achievements An Se-young has currently made in the badminton world no longer need to be described with the modifier 'someone's successor.'"

It further added, "From various results to her ability to dominate matches, An Se-young has already built an era of her own," and highly evaluated that she "has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with all-time great players in various records or broken existing records."

In this context, the media also highlighted An Se-young's unique family history. Her father, An Jung-hyun, is a former boxing national team member who represented South Korea at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. Her mother, Lee Hyun-hee, was also an active gymnast.

Although both parents were athletes, the sport An Se-young chose was neither boxing nor gymnastics, but badminton. The media reported, "Influenced by her father, who loved badminton, An Se-young gradually began to feel its appeal and revealed exceptional talent."

The United Daily News also introduced a video of An Se-young filmed with her family, including her father and younger brother. At the time, her father practiced boxing with An Se-young while offering special advice.

At that time, An Se-young's father said, "Boxing and badminton actually have things in common. You must move lightly like a butterfly and attack quickly and powerfully like a bee."

An Se-young grew rapidly. After being selected for the national team as a middle school student in 2017, she gained experience by competing with world-class players. She won the 2023 World Championships and the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and also won the women's singles gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The media noted, "An Se-young's greatest strength is that she has almost no clear technical weaknesses," adding, "An Se-young is not a player who wins solely through powerful offense or defense. She possesses a very balanced technical system."

It also revealed, "After winning the women's singles gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, An Se-young publicly criticized the Korea Badminton Association," and stated, "Changes subsequently occurred in the Korean badminton world as well."

The media also focused on the fact that An Se-young consistently strives for self-improvement even off the court.

A representative example is her English studies. It is reported that despite a tight tournament schedule, An Se-young takes online English lessons three times a week and does English homework every day.

When participating in overseas tournaments, she also tries to conduct interviews directly in English without relying on an interpreter whenever possible. It is known that at a tournament held in Singapore, she answered reporters' questions in English and even completed a solo interview.

An Se-young's warm demeanor also catches the eye. The United Daily News introduced that An Se-young remembers the faces of reporters who have repeatedly interviewed her at various tournaments and often greets them first.

The media reported, "An Se-young even gifted a headband as a souvenir to a Korean reporter who had covered her multiple times after winning a tournament once."

It concluded by evaluating, "Although An Se-young has already reached the top of the badminton world, she continues to learn and does not forget those who have supported her for a long time."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original