An Se-young

An Se-young (; born 5 February 2002) is a South Korean badminton player from Gwangju, who won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the women's singles event. She was named 2019’s Most Promising Player of the Year and 2023's Female Player of the Year by the BWF. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Championships, making history as the first Korean women's singles player to win the World Championships title. She then clinched the women's singles gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games. An was also a part of South Korea's gold medal winning teams at the 2022 Uber Cup and at the 2022 Asian Games.

In 2018, An was selected to join the national team and became the first junior high school student on the South Korean national team. She was part of the national junior team that won the mixed team title at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. An later represented her country at the 2018 Uber Cup in Bangkok and Asian Games in Jakarta, helping the team win a bronze medal in the former event. In 2019, she clinched her first BWF World Tour title at the Super 300 New Zealand Open, beating the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui in the final.

Career

An Se-young entered her first international competition when she was only 13 years old, participating in the 2015 Asian Junior Championships where she finished as quarter-finalist in the U15 girls' singles and doubles. An won her first international junior title at the U15 Korea Junior Open in 2015. An increasingly dominated the 2016 U15 junior tournaments, winning the girls' singles title at the Jakarta Open Junior International, Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix, Asian Junior Championships, and Korea Junior Open; she also won the women's doubles title at the Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix and the Korea Junior Open.

In 2017, An Se-young competed in the U17 and U19 competitions, where she managed to win the U17 Korea Junior Open, but at the Asian and World Junior Championships, she was unable to win any medals in the individual event. Meanwhile, in the mixed team, An succeeded in helping her team win the Asian junior mixed team title and also won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. At the end of the year, An, 15 years old, was selected for the national senior team, becoming the first ever middle school student to join the South Korean national team.

She was then entrusted to strengthen the Korean team at the 2018 Asian Games, but did not manage to win any medals in the individual or team events. In the 2018 Indonesia International Challenge, An managed to reach the final round. She then won her first senior international title at the 2018 Irish Open, beating compatriot Kim Ga-eun in the final.

An Se-young won her maiden World Tour title at the 2019 New Zealand Open, beating the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui of China in the final. Her breakthroughs continued by winning the Canada Open, Akita Masters, French Open, and Korea Masters. The continuously improving performance she displayed in 2019 brought her into the women's singles top 10 in the BWF world rankings. In recognition of her achievements, the BWF awarded her the 2019 Most Promising Player of the Year.

Due to COVID-19, An only participated in five tournaments in 2020, with her best result being runner-up at the Thailand Masters, and together with the national team winning a silver medal at the Asian Women's Team Championship. In 2021, in her debut at the Olympic Games, she was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Chen Yufei. An then made her first final in a Super 1000 tournament, the Denmark Open, but she was unable to finish the match, and had to settle for runner-up to Akane Yamaguchi. At the Indonesia badminton festival held in Bali, An managed to win all three tournaments after in the final she beats Yamaguchi in the Indonesia Masters, Ratchanok Intanon in the Indonesia Open, and P. V. Sindhu in the World Tour Finals.

In 2022, An reached five finals in the BWF World Tour, winning the Korea Open, Malaysia Masters, and the Australian Open; and also finished as runners-up in the All England and Japan Opens. She also claimed the bronze medals in the women's singles at the Asian and World Championships. Together with the South Korean women's team, she clinched the Uber Cup.

An marked huge milestones for Korean badminton in 2023. She became the first ever Korean women's singles to win the World Championships title in 2023 BWF World Championships, and was the first Korean women's singles to win the Asian Games in 29 years. She also won the gold medal in the women's team at the Asian Games. In the BWF World Tour, she claimed eight titles out of ten finals, and topped the women's singles ranking on 1 August 2023.

In the first half of 2024 season, An played seven individual tournaments, won 3 titles in the Malaysia, French, and the Singapore Opens, and also became finalist in the Indonesia Open. An clinched the gold medal in the women's singles final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, defeating China's He Bingjiao 2–0, marking South Korea's first gold in this event since Bang Soo-hyun's victory in 1996.

A strong performance shown by An in the beginning of the 2025 season, where she emerged champion in the Malaysia and India Opens in January. In the next tournament in March, An is winning a tournament in France, the Orléans Masters. Carrying the momentum of that win, An won the All England Open the next week, gaining her second Super 1000 titles of the year. An continued her pursuit for S1000 "clean sweep" by winning the Indonesia Open in June.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Women's singles''

World Championships

''Women's singles''

Asian Games

''Women's singles''

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

BWF World Tour (28 titles, 9 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

''Women's singles''

BWF International Challenge / Series (1 title, 2 runners-up)

''Women's singles''

: BWF International Challenge tournament
: BWF International Series tournament
: BWF Future Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 2025 Indonesia Open.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:An, Se-young
2002 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gwangju
South Korean female badminton players
Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Olympic badminton players for South Korea
Olympic gold medalists for South Korea
Olympic medalists in badminton
Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 2022 Asian Games
Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea
Asian Games medalists in badminton
Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games
World No. 1 badminton players
21st-century South Korean sportswomen