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Korea’s An Se Young reacts after winning the women’s final match against China’s Chen Yu Fei in the All England Open Badminton Championships at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England, Sunday, March 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
On Sunday, as she lifted yet another title, South Korea’s An Seyoung went where no badminton player in history has gone before. She became the first-ever badminton player to take home more than USD 1 million as prize money in one year. She clinched the BWF World Tour Finals title which had a reward of USD 240,000, that took her total prize money for the year to US $ 1,003,175. The World Tour Finals crown was An’s 11th title of the season.
In another incredible stat, An’s win on Sunday against Wang Zhi Yi in Hangzhou was her 74th of the season in 77 matches, taking her win percentage to 94.80%. According to BWF, that win percentage is the bet for any player, for those who have played a minimum of 60 matches in a season in the Superseries/World Tour era:
An Se Young 94.80% (2025)
Lin Dan 92.75% (2011)
Lee Chong Wei 92.75% (2010)
Li Xue Rui 91.8% (2012)
Lee Chong Wei 91.8% (2013)
Kento Momota 91.78% (2019)
An won the women’s World Tour Finals with a 21-13 18-21 21-10 win over defending champion Wang. With her 11th title in 2025, An equalled Japan men’s great Kento Momota’s record of most titles in a calendar year in singles competition.
It was a day to remember for Korean badminton as the men’s doubles super duo of Kim Wonho and Seo Seungjae became the first pair to win 11 titles in a calendar year, capping a remarkable season of reunion. Kim and Seo stunned the home pairing of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-18, 21-14 in 40 minutes.
French history
France’s Christo Popov beat world champion Shi Yuqi 21-19 21-9 to win the men’s title and became the first French player to win the year-ending championships. “I’m very happy, and being unbeaten also has more value,” Popov told BWF, closing out a sensational debut tournament where he beat the likes of Anders Antonsen, Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Kodai Naraoka on the way. “Every match was tough. I’m happy that I didn’t stop at any moment, and am so happy about the effort and the energy I put on court.”
“He was maybe a bit injured and he was trying some things differently. I had to cover all the angles, it was tough physically to win and I’m happy to have the gap in the second game.”
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In women’s doubles, Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee beat Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in a straight-game affair that actually lasted 69 minutes, 21-17 21-11. The mixed doubles all-Chinese final gave the home fans the only title to celebrate as second seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping outplayed Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 21-12, 21-17.
In what was arguably the best match of the day, Paris Olympics champion An engaged in a marathon contest of 96 minutes against Wang, with both players using their speed to get early points. The Chinese player targeted her opponent’s forehand and stretched out rallies to tire her out. But An put Wang under severe pressure by using sharp shot placements and stable defence to take advantage, before mixing up smashes to take a one-game lead.
Wang caught An out of position in the second game to show signs of revival. Tiredness in a contest of long rallies meant unforced errors crept in for the South Korean and her Chinese opponent pushed the game to a decider. Tremendous defence from An on the backcourt allowed her to cover a lot of ground in the final game despite suffering leg cramps as she again employed smashes to trouble Wang and claim her second title at the season finale.
In the men’s title match, Popov’s fast-paced rallies wore down Shi as the French 23-year-old upset the Chinese world number one to become the third European to win in the category. Shi, looking to equal Viktor Axelsen’s record of winning the tournament three times, held his own early on and the first game hung in the balance at 16-16 before Popov won the next three points to take a decisive lead.
A confident Popov pushed the pace in the second game as Shi, who won the World Tour Finals in 2018 and 2025, showed signs of fatigue, resulting in a dominant win for the Frenchman in the 45-minute clash.
(With Reuters inputs)
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