“self-proclaimed world no. 1” Ahn Se-young(24, Samsung Life Insurance) will fly to Denmark again this December. Excitement is already sky-high in Denmark.
The Women’s Badminton Collective (WBC) said on the 31st of last month (Korea time) on its official social media, “The answer has been revealed! You may have already guessed…or you may not have! Ahn Se-young will compete in the 2026 women’s badminton league (WBL)!,” the group announced.
It added, “An Olympic champion. A world champion. One of the best women’s badminton players in the world. And now… she is coming to the WBL! This time something bigger than ever is going to happen. Are you ready?” calling Ahn Se-young’s participation an unprecedented event.
The WBL is an international invitational competition in which world-class women’s badminton players and rising stars form teams to compete. Unlike the regular Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour, it is a special team event that has adopted 3-on-3 matches in addition to singles and doubles. It was created last year to increase competitive opportunities for women’s badminton players and to raise interest in women’s sports.
This year’s tournament will be held Dec. 19 and 20 at Solrød Strand Idrætscenter in Denmark. The WBL, now in its second year, will be contested in a team format with four teams participating.
After semifinals on the first day, the final and the third-place match will be held on the second day. The winner will be decided over five matches: one women’s singles match, two women’s doubles matches and two 3-on-3 matches.
This will be Ahn Se-young’s first appearance in the tournament. The WBC had also teased her joining on the 30th of last month. At the time it posted a short video saying, “Last year, we asked one question. Who is the best women’s badminton player in the world? The answer was clear. But what if… she came???”
The Danish national players appearing in the video all answered in unison that it was Ahn Se-young, and the WBC released a photo at the end of the video showing Ahn Se-young holding a promotional brochure for the tournament. It added, “Something huge may happen at the 2026 WBL. Can you guess who it is? It will be revealed soon,” raising expectations.
And a day later Ahn Se-young herself announced her participation. In a WBC video she greeted viewers with “Hello, I’m Ahn Se-young,” then said, “I have good news to share with you. I will compete in the 2026 WBL. See you in December.” Fans who saw the video left comments such as “This is insane,” “No way,” “I can’t believe Ahn Se-young is coming, it feels like a dream,” “I can’t believe it,” “All hail the queen,” and “The biggest event of the year.”
In 2025 Ahn Se-young became the first women’s singles player to win 11 titles in a single season. She tied the most single-season singles titles set by Kento Momota of Japan in 2019. Playing 77 matches over the year, she recorded 73 wins and 4 losses, setting a new record for the highest winning percentage (94.8%) in badminton history.
But Ahn Se-young has become even stronger in 2026. This year she has compiled a monster record of 66 wins and 1 loss, claiming 10 championship trophies. She ran a winning streak of 50 matches and is recording a 98.5% winning percentage. She has established an overwhelmingly dominant reign and looks set to break both the single-season most-title record and the highest winning percentage record within a year.
As such, Ahn Se-young’s joining is the biggest bit of news that could determine the WBL’s popularity. It will be her third visit to Denmark this year. Ahn Se-young competed in the Uber Cup world women’s team championships in April and led Korea to the title, and she achieved a tournament repeat at the Denmark Open in October. This time she accepted an invitation from the WBL and will once again greet Danish fans.
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