South Korean · Incheon, South Korea · Born 5 February 2002South Korean badminton player who became the youngest women's singles World Champion in 2022 and successfully defended her title in 2023.
An Se-young was still in middle school when South Korea's national badminton team selected her -- the first middle schooler in the sport's history there to make that squad, a decision that assumed a level of readiness usually reserved for players years older. She justified it fast: by 19, at the 2019 French Open, she came back from a set down to beat Carolina Marin, an Olympic and multiple world champion, for her first major title. An's route to the top wasn't a straight line of favourites beaten in straight sets. At the 2024 Paris Olympics she became the first Korean woman to win the singles gold, then used the aftermath of her own victory to publicly criticise the Korean Badminton Association's medical and conditioning support for its players -- an unusually direct challenge to a federation from an athlete who had just delivered its biggest result in years, and one that forced a public response from officials rather than being quietly absorbed. She backed the Olympic title with the 2023 World Championship, becoming the first Korean woman to hold both simultaneously, and has continued adding titles at a pace -- eleven in 2025 alone -- that suggests the federation dispute did nothing to slow her down, whatever it changed behind the scenes.
World Champion and Olympic medalist in women's singles badminton
How They Played
Aggressive baseline player with powerful smashes and excellent court coverage
Lasting Impact
Rising star who became world champion at age 20, known for aggressive attacking play
Career Honours
- BWF World Championships 2022
- BWF World Championships 2023
- All England Open 2021
- Indonesia Masters 2019
South Korean Athletes