“I will achieve the best results in the history of Korean badminton.”
Seo Seung-jae. Newsis
Kim Hak-kyun, head coach of the Korean badminton team, made a confident declaration at the 2024 Paris Olympics media day held at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in Chungcheongbuk-do on the 18th of last month. It was a bold declaration that not only would Korean badminton recover its pride after suffering the pain of ‘no Olympic medal’ for 16 years since the gold medal of Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung in the mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but that it would also write its best performance ever. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when Korea was at its peak, it had the best performance (2 gold medals and 2 silver medals), including the gold medal in the women’s singles by ‘legend’ Bang Soo-hyun, the gold and silver medals in the mixed doubles between Kim Dong-moon and Gil Young-ah and Park Joo-bong and Ra Kyung-min in the finals, and the silver medal in the women’s doubles between Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ok. Coach Kim aimed for at least 2 gold medals and a total of 4 or more medals to surpass the glory of Atlanta.
There is also a reason why Director Kim is confident. In addition to the overwhelming skill of the world’s No. 1 women’s singles ‘signboard’ Ahn Se-young (22, Samsung Life), and the experience of the No. 2 women’s doubles pair Lee So-hee (30, Incheon International Airport) and Baek Ha-na (24, MG Saemaul Geumgo), there is another ‘reliable corner’. That is the presence of Seo Seung-jae (27, Samsung Life), who has suddenly emerged as a ‘doubles genius’. Seo Seung-jae is aiming for the first two gold medals in a single competition in Korean badminton history.
The key to Korea’s ‘most medals’ lies in Seo Seung-jae’s hands. Seo Seung-jae will compete in two doubles events at the Paris Olympics. He will be teaming up with Kang Min-hyeok (25, Samsung Life Insurance) in men’s doubles and Chae Yu-jeong (29, Incheon International Airport) in mixed doubles. He is ranked 3rd in the world in men’s doubles and 4th in mixed doubles, so he is in the medal hunt for both.
Seo Seung-jae, who emerged as a special prospect in 2014 when he was a second-year student at Gunsan Dong High School and wore the Taegeuk mark for the first time, began to make a name for himself last year. At the World Championships last year, Seo Seung-jae became the first male player to win both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles since Kim Dong-moon in 24 years. Kim Dong-moon is the only Korean badminton player to have won two Olympic gold medals, from the mixed doubles gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 to the men’s doubles gold medal in Athens in 2004. Seo Seung-jae, who has risen to the top of the world, was also selected as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ‘Male Player of the Year’ last year.
Seo Seung-jae will challenge Kim Dong-moon’s status in Paris. Seo Seung-jae said, “My goal is to win gold medals in both events (mixed doubles and men’s doubles). I prepared hard to achieve that goal.” He continued, “I didn’t receive a seed in Tokyo, but I received a seed this time and am playing. I think I’ve grown a lot over the past three years.” Seo Seung-jae, who received a seed for the top four players in both events at the Paris Olympics, can play against relatively easy opponents until the semifinals.
Seo Seung-jae Chae Yu-jeong
Seo Seung-jae Kang Min-hyuk
Korean badminton has never won more than two gold medals in a single Olympic competition. If Seo Seung-jae, a 184cm left-handed player, wins two gold medals in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at this competition, he will be the first player to win gold medals in both events in a single Olympic competition.
Seo Seung-jae and the badminton team, who have been training in the ‘Olympic special set’ created in the Jincheon Athletes’ Village just like the Paris stadium, left for France on the 12th, the fastest among the Korean athletes, and began adaptation training. Korea is aiming for gold medals in the women’s singles, where Ahn Se-young is ranked first, and in the women’s doubles, where Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na are ranked second in the world. The national team will enter Paris, the venue of the final, after adjusting their condition at a pre-training camp set up near Paris. Starting on the 2nd of next month (local time), they will compete for gold in the mixed doubles, women’s doubles (3rd), men’s doubles (4th), and women’s singles (5th). Attention is focused on whether Seo Seung-jae, who will be the first runner-up, will fire a signal flare to achieve the best performance ever for Korean badminton by standing tallest on the podium.
Reporter Jang Han-seo [email protected]
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2024-07-22 07:05:14
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