Defeat in Paris didn’t break An Se-young — it reshaped her.
After her semifinal loss to Chen Yufei at the 2025 World Championships, An openly admitted her frustration. Instead of dwelling on it, she turned that pain into motivation, pushing herself harder in training than ever before.
Her focus now is clear: speed up and stabilize her playing style while becoming more aggressive. To do that, An has taken an uncommon step by regularly training against male players, using their faster pace to sharpen her attacking game.
Despite this shift, she remains committed to her core strengths — endurance and defense — aiming to become a more complete, adaptable player rather than abandoning what made her great.
An Se-young knows that as the player to beat, every opponent will come with new tactics. Her response is simple: evolve faster than they can catch up.
Paris may have hurt, but it may also have created an even stronger An Se-young heading into 2026.
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