A perfect love story: An Se Young, badminton's jewel in crown

The Paris Olympic gold medallist does what she does best, play and win at the India Open; storms into semis
An Se Young in action at the India Open
An Se Young in action at the India OpenPhoto: BAI
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NEW DELHI: Eat, sleep, repeat. In a sport that is as dynamic as badminton, An Se Young is one constant. The South Korean ace has been the jewel in the crown of women's badminton in the last two years or so.

On Friday, An produced a masterclass, something that has been a customary act for her. The Gwangju-origin shuttler swept aside the challenge of Yeo Jia Min in the women's singles quarterfinal of the ongoing India Open at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, here.

With a track record that's second to none in the BWF circuit in the last few years, Friday's display was far from a surprise. An, with her assertive play, reduced a World No 13-ranked opponent to ordinary. Yeo is a former world junior champ from Singapore and has been fighting her own battles at the highest level. But Yeo, who has been seeking consistency at the elite level, does possess the tools to pull off a surprise or too. An was in no mood to let her use those against her.

"I'm very happy that I won but I have to do my best as I have to win my next match," An said after her latest win.

An is making things look simple and easy but she has endured some testing times in the past, most notably in the build-up to the Paris Olympics. Exactly 12 months back during the previous iteration of the India Open, injury had stopped An against Yeo at the same stage of the competition. And that injury talk, unsurprisingly, had overshadowed her badminton then.

Despite the concerns, she had gone on to make history in the Paris Olympics before opening up about her injury issues. She had slammed the Korea Badminton Federation, stating that her injury was 'more severe' than she thought and the national body had mismanaged the same.

All that is history for now and she is doing what she does best, playing badminton. When asked, what's the source of her winning mentality, she responds with a smile saying, "I just love to play badminton."

She's certainly the big fish in a pond filled with hungry talents, youngsters and seasoned professionals like India's PV Sindhu. An says 'every player is difficult', but she just chooses to focus on self-improvement. "It doesn't matter who I'm going to face, I always look to give my best."

That policy has worked wonders and she is now in with a solid chance of making it two out of two (she captured the women's singles crown in Malaysia last week) in a season that has just commenced.

A world title (2023), Asian Games gold (2022) and an Olympic gold (2024). The World No 1 has conquered all. Given that she's just 22, her love affair with the sport could continue to produce many moments of magic.

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