South Korean badminton has maintained its steady rise in the rankings and set its sights on the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The national team finished runner-up at the 2023 World Mixed Team Badminton Championships (Sudirman Cup), which concluded on Nov. 21.
Although they were unable to win the title due to the Chinese wall, the tournament was full of achievements.
Women’s singles world No. 2 Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) built her confidence with straight-set victories over her usual opponents, No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) and No. 3 Tai Tzu-ying (CHN).
The men’s doubles team of Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life) and Na Sung-seung (Gimpo City Hall), who have only been together for three months, proved their competitiveness in the tournament by defeating the world No. 2 pair of Aaron Chia and Soe Wee Ik (Malaysia).
The mixed doubles pair of Seo Seung-jae (Armed Forces Athletic Corps)-Chae Yoo-jung (Incheon International Airport) and the men’s doubles pair of Kang Min-hyuk (Samsung Life) and Seo Seung-jae (Armed Forces Athletic Corps) also showed promise.
Much of the credit for the badminton team’s success goes to head coach Kim Hak-gyun. Since taking over the reins in November last year, Kim has used his 20 years of leadership experience to guide the team.
He actively communicated with the players to build trust and brought out the best in them by utilizing their personalities.
As a result, the team has won 10 gold, 14 silver, and 12 bronze medals in 13 international competitions (excluding the Korea-Japan Games) this year.
Most notably, the team won gold in the women’s singles (Ahn Se-young) and women’s doubles (Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong) at the Jeon Young Open in March. They also won silver medals in women’s doubles (Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee), mixed doubles (Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jung), and bronze in mixed doubles (Kim Won-ho and Jung Na-eun).먹튀검증
With this, Korean badminton, which has been in a slump since the 2010s, is slowly regaining its former glory.
The team will now look to build on their momentum by competing in a series of international tournaments in Southeast Asia, including the Malaysia Masters and Thailand Open.
The second half of the year also includes the World Championships in Denmark in August and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.
The team is desperate to redeem itself, especially after the ‘no-medal’ disgrace at the Asian Games five years ago. A good finish at the Asian Games would naturally improve her prospects for the Paris Olympics next July.