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Badminton national team member Seo Seung-jae, aiming for double gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Yonhap News
The revival of Korean badminton is in his left hand. ‘Doubles genius’ Seo Seung-jae (27) is going after two medals at the Paris Olympics.
Badminton was once a ‘good sport’. Since being adopted as an official sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it has won 20 medals (6 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze). However, in the last three competitions, it has been ‘no gold’ and has only won 3 bronze medals. It has fallen behind not only China and Indonesia, but also Japan and Malaysia. At the center of Korean badminton, which dreams of a revival, is Seo Seung-jae. Seo Seung-jae will compete in the mixed doubles and men’s doubles.
The atmosphere is good. Seo Seung-jae was selected as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Player of the Year last year, along with Ahn Se-young. This is because he won both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the World Championships. Seo Seung-jae is the third player to sweep both doubles events at the World Championships in one year, following Park Joo-bong (1985, 1991) and Kim Dong-moon (1999). He is ranked 4th in the world in the men’s doubles with his junior Kang Min-hyeok (25), and 3rd in the world in the mixed doubles with Chae Yu-jeong (29).
Seo Seung-jae first wore the Taegeuk mark in 2014 while attending Gunsan Dong High School. He showed outstanding talent in doubles. He was expected to be the successor to Lee Yong-dae, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.
However, he failed to achieve any significant results. He failed to make it past the quarterfinals in both the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, he gained confidence after winning the World Championship last year. Seo Seung-jae said, “I had a hard time with the self-deprecation of ‘Is this it? ‘ So I always did my best. I think I saw the light after doing it for a year, year after year.”
Seo Seung-jae is a ‘left-handed fireballer’ in baseball terms. He has excellent elasticity and power from his height (181cm). When two players are positioned in front and behind, he uses a strong smash from the back. At the World Championships last year, he even hit a speed of 458km/h. He has an excellent ability to shake his opponent with a drop shot and then finish with a strong hit.
Coincidentally, the two partners have different styles. Kang Min-hyeok, who has been working together since the second half of 2021, has good power like Seo Seung-jae. The two of them forcefully attack their opponents. Chae Yu-jeong is short but quick and good at forward play. Since they are both left-handed players who are more unfamiliar than right-handed players, it is difficult for the opponents. They have been together for 6 years and their chemistry is good. Seo Seung-jae said, “Yu-jeong tends to lead, and I talk a lot with Min-hyeok. However, we are the same in that we talk comfortably with each other and adjust.”
The dream is grand. He is the first double champion in Korean badminton history. Kim Dong-moon won two gold medals (mixed doubles in 1996 and men’s doubles in 2004), but no player has won two gold medals in one competition. He said, “My goal is gold medals in both events. I prepared hard to achieve that goal,” and expressed confidence, saying, “I didn’t receive a seed in the preliminaries in Tokyo, but this time I received a seed (by finishing in the top 4). I’ve grown a lot in the past three years.”
Reporter Kim Hyo-kyung [email protected]
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Kim Hyo-kyung [email protected]
2024-07-23 02:14:47
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