An Se-young posing with BWF president Poul Erik Hoyer. — BWF
PETALING JAYA: Former great Lee Yong-dae’s word of encouragement is enough to fuel the fire in women’s singles shuttler An Se-young to aim for a successful end to the year by winning a title at the World Tour Finals.
Yong-dae, who used to dominate the scene in the men’s doubles with different partners – Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong had caught up with the reigning Olympic champion Se-young after she won big at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) gala dinner on Monday.
“(New BWF Hall of Famer) Lee Yong-dae is my idol and he told me ‘you have so much to celebrate today’. I’m so happy. I have so many people standing by me supporting me and they are my biggest motivation,” said Se-young.
The 22-year-old has been on her ‘own’ since taking a swipe at the Korean BA after winning the Olympics gold. Se-young, who struggled with injury, had made several allegations on unfair treatment then.
Yesterday though, all her hard work and perseverance were justified when she smashed her way to emerge as a double winner during the award ceremony, where she was named as the women singles Player of the Year award ahead of China’s Wang Zhiyu and Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska.
She also took the Players’ Player of the Year, which was voted by the players.
Winning the players’ choice was special for the sweet Se-young.
“I didn’t expect I’d receive so much support from other players. I’m delighted to get this award,” said Se-young on the BWF website.
In the Finals today, Se-young will face Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the first Group B match. The others in her group are Han Yue of China and Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
Meanwhile, Frenchman Alex Lanier became the first European player in 14 years to be recognised as the best up-and-coming talent in badminton, winning the renamed Eddy Choong Rising Star Award to emulate Axelsen’s achievement from 2010.
The French youngster’s breakthrough season saw him triumph at the Japan Open in August after finishing runner-up at the Canada Open a month earlier.
He Jiting and Gayatri Gopichand were named the best dressed male and female players respectively.
Badminton icons Yong-dae and Chen Long, both Olympic champions, were later officially inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame.
ROLL OF HONOUR
Men’s Singles Player of the Year: Shi Yuqi (China)
Women’s Singles Player of the Year: An Se-young (Korea)
Men’s Doubles Player of the Year: Liang Weikang-Wang Chang (China)
Women’s Doubles Player of the Year: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (China)
Mixed Doubles Player of the Year: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (China)
Men’s Para Badminton Player of the Year: Qu Zimo (China)
Women’s Para Badminton Player of the Year: Liu Yutong-Li Fengmei (both China)
Para Badminton Pair of the Year: Hikmat Ramdani-Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia)
Eddy Choong Rising Star of the Year: Alex Lanier (France)
Players’ Player of the Year (Men): Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)
Players’ Player of the Year (Women): An Se-young (Korea)
