DISCIPLINED, AN-STOPPABLE

In this series, The Straits Times highlights the players or teams to watch in the world of sport. Today, we focus on South Korean badminton star An Se-young, the reigning Olympic champion and winner of 10 BWF titles this season.

- Kimberly Kwek Sports Correspondent

For many athletes, the search for greatness is an endless pursuit and An Se-young knows this better than most.

The South Korean badminton queen’s unique training methods, which include working out in weighted vests to running on sand dunes, have helped propel her to the top of the world rankings.

Yet sometimes, her edge comes not from unorthodox routines but from something far simpler: Discipline.

On a South Korean talk show, she revealed that she maintains a strict diet during competitions, avoiding dairy products and raw foods. The last time she allowed herself fried food was last Christmas.

She said: “When I’m in top form, the shuttlecock looks slower.”

That clarity has shown on court all season. On Nov 23, An became the first female singles player to win 10 Badminton World Federation World Tour titles in a season, achieving the feat at the Australian Open.

The world No. 1 and reigning Olympic champion set the previous record of nine World Tour titles in 2023, the same year she also won the singles and team golds at the Asian Games.

Her numbers underline the dominance: a 94.4 per cent win rate with 68 wins and four losses in 72 matches, which saw her reach 11 finals in 14 World Tour events in 2025. The only event where she failed to make at least the semifinals was May’s Singapore Open, when she was knocked out by Chen Yufei in the last eight.

With the BWF World Tour Finals – a tournament she last won in 2021 - remaining, An still has a chance to match Japanese Kento Momota’s record of 11 titles in a season set in 2019.