Forty-four straight wins. A record of 61-1 in 62 matches.
An Se-young, the 24-year-old world No. 1 who plays for Samsung Life Insurance, added another milestone to a season that has already rewritten the badminton record books. She won the Badminton World Federation Denmark Open, a Super 750 event, for her ninth title of the season.
An beat her rival Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, ranked third in the world, 2-1 (21-23, 21-14, 21-18) in the women's singles final in Odense, Denmark, on the 18th.
The victory gave An back-to-back Denmark Open titles and extended her record this year to 61 wins and one loss, a winning percentage of 98.4%. Her only defeat came against China's Wang Zhiyi, ranked second, at the All England Open, where she settled for silver. She has won every one of the nine other individual tournaments she has entered.
It was also her fourth consecutive tournament victory, following titles at the World Championships, the China Masters and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
An had won nine straight matches against Yamaguchi, including the Asian Games final, and again relied on her airtight defense and sharp attacking play.
After wrapping up every match from the round of 32 through the semifinals in under 40 minutes, An needed more than an hour to grind out the win in the final.
She dropped the first game 21-23 after a deuce, then found openings in Yamaguchi's game to build a lead in the second and took it 21-14.
An was even sturdier in the decider. Trailing 3-9 early, she gradually closed the gap and pulled level at 12-12.
Once she had the momentum, An pressed Yamaguchi hard. She ran off consecutive points to lead 15-12, then drew errors from a visibly tiring Yamaguchi before closing out the game 21-18 to take the match.
An now travels to Paris for the French Open, another Super 750 event, which runs from the 20th to the 25th. She matched the record for most titles in a single season by any player, men's or women's, with 11 wins in the 2025 season, equaling a mark held by Japan's Kento Momota. She is aiming to set a new record this season.