After Olympics, An Se-young Withdraws from Competitions... Loses World No.1 to China

Return Match at the National Sports Festival After 2 Months

South Korea's badminton star An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) has lost her No. 1 spot in the women's singles world ranking to her rival Chen Yufei (China) after 1 year and 2 months.

In the world badminton federation (BWF) rankings announced on the 8th, An Se-young recorded 100,337 ranking points, falling behind Chen Yufei (101,682) and dropping from first to second place in women's singles.

An Se-young first rose to world No. 1 in August last year and held the position for over a year. It is the first time in 27 years that a Korean female singles player has reached world No. 1 since Bang Soo-hyun. Since then, An Se-young won both the World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, and also claimed the gold medal at the Paris Olympics held this summer.

The drop in ranking appears to be due to An Se-young not participating in tournaments for a while following a knee injury after last year's Asian Games, as well as not competing in events after the Paris Olympics this year. Although her absence from various competitions after the Olympics was officially attributed to injury, some analyses suggest it is also related to the aftermath of her outspoken criticism of the Korea Badminton Association's system and national team management immediately after winning the Olympic gold medal.

An Se-young has been listed on the roster for the National Sports Festival starting on the 9th. If she actually competes, it will mark her return to competition two months after the Olympics.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is conducting an audit of the Badminton Association to verify the truth of An Se-young's criticisms regarding player management and support by the association immediately after the Paris Olympics. Kim Taek-gyu, president of the Badminton Association, also appeared as a witness at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's urgent inquiry on the 24th of last month.