An Se Young made her return to the badminton court after her Olympic gold.
This article is written by BWF.
“I am a full 10 out of 10 happy to be back on court,” exclaimed An Se Young after making a welcomed return to competition at the VICTOR Denmark Open 2024 since winning Olympic gold in Paris in the summer.
The Korean had taken a break from badminton after her victorious moment defeating He Bing Jiao in the final in the French capital to great acclaim.
“I was nervous but I am happy to be back after winning the Olympics,” added the Olympic champion who was all smiles after winning her opener 21-16 21-8 to Pornpicha Choeikeewong.
“I was trying to adjust to the conditions in the first game, read the drift of the hall and get that on-court feeling back. I loved stepping out onto the badminton court, it’s my happy place. I had a lot of time off after Paris. I needed it to recover from my injury, which isn’t 100 per cent yet, but I’m getting there.”
The 22-year-old was happy to be playing in Odense after skipping the tournament in 2023.
“Denmark is lovely and clean. I’m glad I could return here [Denmark] and play in front of the fans. It’s also great to be back on tour with my teammates. I missed it but I got to spend time with my family and friends and do the things I enjoy like eating Korean BBQ.”
An will play the winner of Ratchanok Intanon or Yvonne Li’s match in the second round.
→ Results (Day 1)
→ Order of play (Day 2)
WHAT OTHERS SAID:
“I had a six-month break after an injury to my meniscus. I have played two tournaments since and it still feels tight but my movement feels okay. I want to be risky with my shot playing but also want to make sure I don’t get injured again.” – Benyapa Aimsaard on making a return to the World Tour circuit.
“Life since the Olympics has changed quite a lot. I sign a lot of autographs and Wang Chang has to run away from girl fans chasing him, haha!.” – Liang Wei Keng speaks about life after Olympic silver.
“I was so excited to make my debut at the Denmark Open at a home event. I have been coming to Odense for years to watch the Open and it’s really unbelievable to see my heroes like Hendra Setiawan walking around. I would love to meet him.” – Rasmus Espersen on how special the Denmark Open is to him.
“I’m always learning new things from players. Badminton is a learning process and the more I play the top players, the better I can become. The aim is to become world No.1.” – Reigning world champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn stays humble on what he can do to be the best.
“I was the one who called Robin Tabeling as I was without a partner and I didn’t know what his plan was until I saw his Instagram post after the Olympics. So I hit him up and said ‘I’m up for it if you are.'” – Alexandra Baje on how her partnership with Dutch shuttler, Tabeling got started.