If you watched a 17-year-old An Se Young defeat PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Akane Yamaguchi and Carolina Marin in back-to-back weeks across Denmark Open and French Open (the latter she won) in 2019, you would have known you were watching a superstar in the making. It was not even the hardest thing to predict that we were watching a future world No 1 in action.

In Copenhagen last week, the world No 1 was also crowned the world champion, becoming the first ever Korean shuttler to win the gold medal at this event in women's singles. Incredibly, it was her 8th title of 2023 in 11 finals out of the 12 individual tournaments she entered. (Yes, read that line again). International, top-level badminton isn't supposed to be as easy as she is making it look at the moment.

And all at 21.

Watching An Se Young play is a thing of joy. Her shot-making is sensational, but watching her feet move on the court is a mesmeric experience. It's almost as if she is gliding, that gravity doesn't hold her back but aids her as a friend, letting her reach where she has to a moment or two in advance, and ever so gracefully at that.

And so she danced against Marin at the Royal Arena on Sunday. The Spaniard (her comeback story one of the most inspirational one can come across all sport) was trying her hardest to keep pace. Marin's movement has a sense of relentlessness to it, she can be daunting even for those watching her in action, let alone the player across the net. But the Korean, who could have easily been overwhelmed playing her first major final against someone who has NEVER lost a title clash here before, looked at ease.

"It’s tough to beat someone who has a complete game like her," Saina Nehwal had said about facing An Se Young, back in 2020.  "She’s good at the net, she’s good on defense and she also has those sharp shots so you have to be really, really good and stick with her."

When Saina says someone has a complete game, you take her for every word. When An Se Young gets on court these days, it feels like there are no evident weaknesses in her game to exploit. And when you think of all great WS players of recent times, you could single out their biggest strengths. Sindhu's powerful smashes, Tai Tzu Ying's deception, Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi's incredible retrieval, Marin's aggression... for An Se Young, it seems to be a combination of everything in a good amount.

And there is impressive symmetry here to appreciate as well . An Se Young's first big breakthrough came at the French Open in 2019, when she defeated Marin in straight games in the final. And her first Major title has also come with a win against Marin. "Actually the advantage of age helps a lot because I'm not afraid of anything," An Se Young said back then after winning the French Open. She is now not so young anymore at 21 (*chuckles*), and doesn't have the advantage of being somewhat of an unknown... and yet she doesn't seem fazed by the pressure of being the best.

While An Se Young's inevitable ascent to the top reiterated what those following the game have known for a while now, there were questions elsewhere for some of the best in the world. Marin's run to the final, preventing a Fab Four semifinal showdown, was inspirational. Her win-loss record at semifinals and beyond at the Worlds now reads 7-1. But whether she will be around, and at this level, by the time the next World Championships happen in 2025, remains to be seen. (Don't put it past her, though).

It is now all but confirmed that Tai Tzu Ying, the sorcerer supreme of world badminton, will finish without a World Championships title in her resume. Dr. TTY is set to retire from the sport in 2024 (there won't be a Worlds since it is an Olympics year) and will join Lee Chong Wei in being the owner of one of the most bizarre statistical anomalies in badminton: neither won the gold medal at the World Championships. In the last year or so, she has looked more beatable than when she was at her peak but she is still good enough for us to think there is a possibility of finishing on a high in Paris.

For Nozomi Okuhara, former world No 1 and world champion, 2023 had been nothing short of a nightmare. She hadn't won a second round match all year long, but produced a stunning run in Copenhagen, producing some vintage wow moments on court with her hustle. A win against Sindhu was impressive, a win against Ratchanok Intanon was memorable, and she took a game against An Se Young before finding it a tough hurdle to cross.

“This is my starting line," Okuhara said. "Everybody has started competing for Olympic qualification but I couldn’t feel that way yet. This tournament is finally where I begin my journey to the Olympics.” The challenge for her now would be sustain this momentum.

Closer home, concerns mount surrounding Sindhu. For the first ever time in her glittering World Championships career, Sindhu lost a match as early as the second round. Right now, there is a feeling that Sindhu is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders (and admittedly, this is complete conjecture, just from watching her play.)

And in Okuhara's attitude towards a comeback, there is something to learn perhaps for the two-time Olympic medallist. Abhijeet Kulkarni has written all you need to know about the crossroads the Indian finds herself in at the moment. Personally, reading it, the first thought is she needs someone who can fire her up mentally. It is understandable that even the best of athletes go through a phase where the brain refuses to go along with the body, and while Sindhu's comeback from a rare serious injury in her career was tough on her at the start of the year, it is now rather evident that the problems are not merely physical.

And Sindhu, who is much loved on the tour by her peers, can seek inspiration from Okuhara, against whom she has had two incredible World Championships title duels in the past. Sindhu can seek inspiration from Marin too, who – at 30 – has reached a Worlds final on the flip side of two knee surgeries. Inspiration can be found even closer in the form of HS Prannoy who has found a second wind either side of 30, and is now at a career-high ranking as a Worlds medallist.

The likes of Okuhara, Marin and Prannoy will tell you it's not easy to bounce back from setbacks. But it is not supposed to be either. And a champion like Sindhu just needs to find that spark once more to rise up.

Cover image courtesy ASY's Instagram.