After battling through injuries to win gold at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, “Badminton Empress” Ahn Se-young (21, Samsung Life Insurance) was diagnosed with a torn tendon in her right knee. In hindsight, it’s clear that despite the injury, Ahn showed the mental strength to keep playing and not give up.

“According to the Korea Badminton Association and Ahn’s team, Samsung Life, Ahn underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination after returning home the previous day (Aug. 8) and received a result from the medical staff that she had torn a tendon near her right knee,” News1 reported on Sept. 9.

Ahn won two medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, winning the team and individual titles. She became a national hero in the final days of the Games when she played through a knee injury to win the event.

Ahn faced off against Chen Yuefei (China) in the women’s singles final of the badminton badminton event at the Asian Games on July 7. During the first game, Ahn felt pain in her right knee and went down, but she didn’t lose hope. Even as she was being treated on the court, she kept her trademark smile on her face and showed that she was determined to keep playing.

Before the Asian Games, Ahn’s body was already exhausted from playing several international tournaments, including the World Championships and China Open. Her knee gradually became strained, and she pulled up during the final.

The pain in her knees prevented her from performing smashes and jumps that require strength. It was devastating, but Ahn calmly changed her strategy. She began to receive the shuttlecock hit by her opponent Chen Yufei in an exquisite position. Ahn didn’t make many moves herself, but instead switched to a strategy that would continue to drain Chen Yufei’s strength.

Chen Yufei, who seemed to be on her way to an easy victory, began to panic. Ahn took the first set with a lead, despite playing with knee pain. She then dropped the second game, but showed endless determination in the third. She rallied endlessly. Ahn took most of the shuttlecocks, and at one point, Chen Yufei’s legs seemed to stop working. In the end, Ahn took the third set and won the game 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 21-8) to take the gold medal. After the final, Ahn spoke about her injury, saying, “My knee was very sore. But fortunately, I was able to walk. I thought this time would never come again, so I wanted to play hard, so I played.”

Ahn Se-young was crowned a badminton queen after winning the women’s singles title for the first time in 29 years at the 1994 Hiroshima Games. After leading the women’s team to victory in the women’s team event on the first day, Ahn was all smiles as she won her second title of the tournament. Ahn had previously defeated Chen Yufei in the team event. Ahn was the singles player in the first match of the team event, which resulted in a 2-0 victory over Chen Yufei.

In fact, Chen Yufei has been a very difficult opponent for Ahn. Until last year, Ahn was 1-7 in her head-to-head record against Chen Yuefei. Looking back on the Jakarta-Palembang tournament, Ahn Seyoung once said on an entertainment program, “I was so embarrassed. I didn’t play well. After that, I started working out without taking a day off. Even on my days off, I would run or play badminton.” “I thought, ‘I can’t really beat this guy,'” she said of her loss to Chen Yufei at the Tokyo Olympics. It felt like a wall,” she confesses. But Ahn continued to improve. This year, she overcame her nemesis, winning seven of her nine meetings with Chen Yufei.
Ahn’s rise to the top of Asia’s rankings now has her eyes on Paris 2024
Ahn’s rise to the top of the rankings at this tournament was a clear one. After winning her round of 32 match in 23 minutes, she breezed through her round of 16 match in 21 minutes. In the quarterfinals, he defeated World No. 16 Busanan Ongvamrungpan (Thailand) in straight games to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, she faced World No. 5 He Bingjiao (CHN) and won 2-0 to book her place in the final.

Ahn experienced her first Asian Games at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games when she was 16 years old. After losing her first match, she went on to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she was eliminated in the quarterfinals. This year, however, her career has taken off. After becoming the first South Korean to win a singles title at the World Individual Badminton Championships in August, she took home gold at the Asian Games.메이저사이트

Ahn will spend two to five weeks rehabilitating her knee tendon injury. As a result, she will not be able to participate in the 104th National Sports Festival, which begins today. She will also be unable to compete in the Denmark Open and the French Open, which begin in the middle of this month. An official from the federation said, “Ahn’s knee has been bad since the China Open, but it got worse as she played team and individual events back-to-back at the Asian Games, which may have damaged her tendons. Her participation in future international competitions will be decided after discussions with her team while looking at her physical condition.”

Ahn received the Fighting Spirit Award from the Korea Sports Federation, and her unwavering determination touched many people. Ahn will now focus on healing her injury and compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which begin next July.