“What are you thinking…. I just do it (laughs)”
“Figure queen” Kim Yeon-ah (retired) was once asked in a documentary, “What do you think about when you train?” and she replied, “I just do it.
She later said, “I answered without thinking about it, but many people wrapped it up nicely,” but many sports fans were touched and comforted by her calm and unassuming mentality.
A similar sentiment was echoed by Ahn Se-young, 21, the world No. 1 in women’s singles badminton, whom I met at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in Chungcheongbuk-do on Saturday.
Ahn has been training hard for the World Individual Championships this month, the World Badminton Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 China Open next month and the Hangzhou Asian Games.
In particular, she has been practicing smashing shuttlecock cases on the courtside to improve her offense, which is her weakness.
In addition to her traditional defense, which is based on physical strength and persistence, she is also trying to incorporate sharp offensive skills.
She believes that she needs to diversify her game in order to be able to respond flexibly to World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi (Japan), No. 3 Chen Yufei (China), and No. 4 Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei), who all have different styles.
When asked, “Isn’t it harder than usual to utilize your strengths and make up for your weaknesses,” Ahn replied, “I’m just following the guidance of my manager and coach very well and hard.
“I just keep it simple,” Ahn said, “When I wake up in the morning, I know exactly what I’m going to do. “When I wake up in the morning, I know exactly what I’m going to do, and then (training) becomes like a natural habit, so I don’t feel like it’s hard when I go with the flow,” she explained.
“Even if something difficult comes, I can just imagine, ‘If I overcome this, I will grow,’ and I can get through it,” he said.
Ahn, who was crowned world No. 1 on March 1, is determined despite the fact that the next two months of international events will feel like a test.
“World No. 1 is not the final goal,” she said, “I always feel like I’m not good enough because I’m looking for more perfection, so I feel like I have to keep trying.”
So what does she mean by ‘perfection’?
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but…” she paused, then said, “I pursue a perfect match where I end the set with a 21-0 run.”
Holding her opponent to a single-digit score is considered a sweep, but Ahn dreams of scoring 21 straight points without giving up a single point.
Ahn is neither intimidated nor overconfident by her world No. 1 title, which is why she is able to focus on hitting the shuttlecock case.
The hard work is paying off.
“Ahn’s defense has changed to one where she doesn’t wait (for an opponent to attack) but approaches with an animalistic sense,” said national team coach Kim Hak-gyun at the media day, adding that “whether it’s Yamaguchi, Chen Yufei or Tai Zhiying, she can overwhelm them and drag them away.”
“The learning process happened very quickly, 먹튀검증토토사이트 so now we’re trying to make it (the play) fit like a glove through repetition,” Kim explained.