Defending Olympic champion Chen Yufei (25-China) has expressed her respect for world No. 2 Ahn Se Young (21-Samsung Life) in the women’s badminton singles.

“As we all know, she’s been performing really well for a while now. It doesn’t matter that I won more in the past,” he said, expressing his thoughts on Ahn Se-young.

Xinhua Tongxunxue is a 스포츠토토 news agency of the Chinese State Council (government). China defeated South Korea 3-0 in the final of the 2023 Sudirman Cup on Nov. 21, breaking its own record for most wins in the tournament with 13.

The Sudirman Cup is the World Championships of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) mixed team event. Chen Yufei played the third match of the final (women’s singles) against South Korea, defeating Ahn Se-young in straight sets 2-0 (21-16 22-20) to clinch the title for China.

Ahn was the runner-up at the Sudirman Cup, making her disadvantage over Chen Yufei even more evident with a head-to-head record of 4 wins and 9 losses. However, Chen Yufei said, “I am approaching the match with the mindset of learning,” and explained how she usually plays against Ahn Se Young.

Chen Yufei has spent nine of the last 10 seasons on the individual podium at major tournaments: silver at the 2014 Asian Youth Championships, gold at the 2016 World Youth Championships and Asian Youth Championships, bronze at the 2017 World Championships, silver at the 2018 Asian Championships, bronze at the 2019 World Championships and Asian Championships, gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, silver at the 2022 World Championships, and bronze at the 2023 Asian Championships.

Ahn’s bronze medals at the 2022 World and Asian Championships and silver at the 2023 Asian Championships made her a favorite to win the title at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games. She will have to overcome Chen Yufei, who has a wealth of international experience, having been world class since her junior days, and the home advantage of competing in China.

The badminton events at the Hangzhou Asian Games will take place from September 28-October 5. “If Japan is the second toughest and Indonesia is the third, Korea is the toughest,” said Zhang Zun, president of the Badminton Association of China, adding that winning the Sudirman Cup will have a positive impact on the Asian Games.

With four wins and five runner-up finishes, South Korea is the second most decorated team in the Sudirman Cup behind China (13 wins and two runner-up finishes). If we expand the scope to the number of quarterfinal appearances, the gap narrows further to 18 for China and 17 for Korea.