Badminton queen Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life) made her first official appearance. Even under the spotlight of the press, she showed her unwavering mental strength.
Ahn attended the “Thank You, Team Korea” Hangzhou Asian Games Team Encouragement Event at Lotte Hotel in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday.
Ahn won two medals (women’s singles and team event) at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which ended earlier this month.
In the singles final, she defeated her nemesis Chen Yufei (China) despite suffering a knee injury during the match.
“I’ve heard a lot of broadcast appearances, interviews, and advertisements,” she said, “but the Ahn Se-young you know is the same Ahn Se-young who was just an ordinary athlete yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and I refuse to be exposed to advertisements and media,” she added.
The event was Ahn’s first public appearance since returning home.
When asked about her current knee condition, Ahn said, “I’ve been focusing on rehabilitation and taking time to recharge, but I’m not in perfect condition yet.”
She added, “I would say I’m about 50 to 60 percent of my best condition for competition.
I will continue to build my body according to the actual competition.”
While Ahn was rehabbing her knee injury, Chen Yufei, who knelt before Ahn at the Hangzhou Asian Games, continued her winning streak.
Chen Yufei won back-to-back titles at the Denmark Open and France Open in the absence of the world No. 1 in women’s badminton singles.
Ahn said, “It’s a shame, but I try not to think about it because my body comes first.
Rather, looking at the results, I realized that my road against Chen Yufei will be even harder in the future, so I will prepare more leisurely.” 카지노사이트
For now, Ahn has one comeback in mind: an international tournament next month.
“If I’m fit for the Kumamoto Masters in November (November 14-19) or the China Masters (November 21-29 in Shenzhen, China), I’ll play.
I plan to go to the Worlds before the year is out.”
When asked about his refusal to be advertised or featured in the media, he said, “I’m very grateful for the attention and I’ve gotten a lot of requests for advertisements and interviews, but I can’t do both because I have other things I want to accomplish in the future.
I’m just going to focus on improving my body,” he said.
Ahn also laughed when we asked him a ridiculous question: “If you win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, would you be doing a commercial? “It’s literally an if, and I’m just going to focus on training one day at a time,” he replied.
The event was attended by a number of athletes who performed well at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sports Federation, encouraged the athletes who performed well in Hangzhou.
More than 350 people, including representatives of sponsors, heads of member sports organizations, and provincial athletic governing bodies, participated in the event, and various awards were presented to the athletes.