The final choice for Ahn Se-young's personal sponsorship of 10 billion won for four years was Yonex...Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho also signed a contract with Yonex

Jun 27, 2025

The final choice for Ahn Se-young's personal sponsorship of 10 billion won for four years was Yonex...Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho also signed a contract with Yonex
South Korea's An Se Young kisses her trophy as she celebrates on the podium after defeating China's Wang Zhiyi in their women's singles final match at the Indonesia Open badminton tournament at Istora Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)



Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance), who drew attention and sponsored personal items, resulted in Yonex.

An official familiar with the situation in the badminton industry said on the 27th that Ahn Se-young and Yonex have completed their personal sponsorship contract on the 26th.

According to Sports Chosun coverage, the terms of the contract between Yonex and Ahn Se-young are known to be 2.5 billion won per year and have a four-year contract period. It is worth a total of 10 billion won for four years.




In addition to Ahn Se-young, Seo Seung-jae (28) and Kim Won-ho (26, Samsung Life Insurance), who have been competing for recruitment in the industry, have also signed a contract to use Yonex products.

Seo Seung-jae is worth 2.2 billion won per year and Kim Won-ho is worth 1.5 billion won per year, with the same contract period of four years.

Until now, competition for Ahn Se-young's sponsorship contract has been fierce between Yonex and Linning. Linning is known to have offered Ahn an extraordinary amount of 3.5 billion won per year.




The final choice for Ahn Se-young's personal sponsorship of 10 billion won for four years was Yonex...Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho also signed a contract with Yonex
Kim Won-ho (front)-Seo Seung-Jae. Photo courtesy of the Badminton Korea
On top of that, Yonex has also been engaged in a recruitment war by raising its initial offer behind the scenes. It was a mixed battle, with 'Lining Advantage' and 'Yonex Advantage' alternately appearing over the competition between the two equipment companies, but it resulted in Yonex.

Although Linning is higher than Yonex in terms of sponsorship amount, the reason why he chose Yonex is said to be because the players decided that Yonex was better in terms of contracts other than the amount after receiving advice from lawyers.

Meanwhile, another women's doubles ace, Gong Hee-yong (29, Jeonbuk Bank), is also reportedly set to complete his contract with Yonex.




In May, the Badminton Korea Association officially allowed individual sponsorship contracts for major items such as rackets, shoes, and protectors to improve players' performance and protect their rights. This measure is based on the results of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's audit of the incident since the Paris Olympics last year.

At that time, Ahn Se-young expressed his grievances about the operation of the national team, and later suspicions of poor administration and corruption by the association emerged. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which conducted a large-scale audit, announced the final results in October of that year, including allowing personal support.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.