An Se Young makes history with 47th career title

An Se Young overcame an injury scare to script a come-from-behind victory and clinch her ninth BWF World Tour title of the season at the Denmark Open on Sunday. The world No. 1 rallied from a game down to beat Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in the women’s singles final of the Super 750 tournament in Odense, Denmark.

This was the fifth consecutive women's singles final in which Se Young beat Yamaguchi, following her victories over the Japanese player at the Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, World Championships and Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Se Young led 18-15 in the opening game but succumbed to Yamaguchi’s fierce attack, eventually losing 21-23 in a tense deuce battle. She trailed 11-13 in the second game before mounting a comeback. The deciding game proved another test of her resilience.

Trailing 9-12 midway through, Se Young appeared uncomfortable as she repeatedly touched her ankle, raising concerns about a possible injury. She responded with seven consecutive points to overturn the deficit. Yamaguchi attempted a late fightback but struggled to breach Se Young’s defence as the South Korean closed out the match 21-18.

The victory took Se Young’s career tally to 47 titles, moving her past Indonesian legend Susi Susanti’s 46 to set a new record for the most career titles in women’s singles.

The Denmark Open was Se Young’s ninth BWF World Tour title of the season. She has also won gold in women’s singles at the Asian Games, taking her overall title haul for the year to 10. Her BWF World Tour triumphs this season have come at the Malaysian Open, India Open, Badminton Asia Championships, Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, China Masters, World Championships and Denmark Open, alongside one other title.

Se Young’s record for the season now stands at 61 wins and one defeat, giving her a remarkable win rate of 98.4%. Her only loss came against China’s Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final. She is also on a 44-match winning streak.

Last year, Se Young won 11 titles in a single season, matching Japan’s Kento Momota’s 2019 record for the most titles in a season across men’s or women’s singles.

With Se Young scheduled to compete at the French Open next week, she has the opportunity to move closer to, or even surpass, last season’s title tally. She could also challenge her own record for the highest single-season win rate, having set a mark of 94.8% last year.