Kuala Lumpur: Despite being considered a top contender for the Olympic women’s singles gold medal, South Korean shuttler An Se-Young maintains a humble perspective, emphasizing her focus on personal improvement and the desire to return to her peak form quickly.
The 21-year-old An Se-Young displayed resilience in Sunday’s Malaysia Open women’s singles final, defeating Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-Ying with a score of 2-1. This victory served as a response to last month’s revenge at the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals, making her the first South Korean women’s singles player to clinch the Malaysia Open title.
Highlights of An Se-Young vs. Tai Tzu-Ying in the 2024 Malaysia Open final:
An Se-Young, who secured ten titles last year, including victories at the Asian Games and the World Championships, has now added the Malaysia Open as one of her 1000-level titles including the All-England Open and China Open. With this win, only the Indonesia Open remains for An Se-Young to achieve a complete sweep of Super 1000 titles. If she adds an Olympic gold medal, she will have conquered all major championships.
Reflecting on her victory, An Se-Young stated in an interview, “I’m thrilled to become the first South Korean women’s singles player to win here. It’s a good start to the new year.” Despite the challenges posed by her knee injury, she emphasized the importance of the process and expressed her primary goal for the new year: “To produce good results in the first tournament of the year is crucial to me, but most importantly, I want to return to my best form.”
This triumph marks An Se-Young’s first championship since recovering from injury after the Hangzhou Asian Games in September last year. Her comeback victory positions her once again as a favorite for the women’s singles gold at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
However, An Se-Young chooses to downplay the expectations, stating, “I’m honored to be considered an Olympic favorite, but in such a major competition, it’s hard to predict. I just want to focus on improving myself.”
In mixed doubles, Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino beat Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun for the title while Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning defeated compatriots Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu for the women’s doubles title.
