2024-07-13 06:13:40
Last year’s World Championships Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles Winner… Selected as ‘Male Athlete of the Year’ by the World Federation
Men’s and mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics
When winning, he became the first Korean to win two titles in a single tournament.
Fantastic chemistry with partners Kang Min-hyuk and Chae Yu-jeong
‘Doubles genius’ Seo Seung-jae (26) was selected as the ‘Male Player of the Year’ by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) last year. At the World Championships last year, Seo Seung-jae became the first male player in 24 years since Kim Dong-moon (49) to win both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Kim Dong-moon won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games, making him the only Korean badminton player to win two Olympic gold medals.
Seo Seung-jae is determined to achieve the same result at the Paris Olympics, which opens on the 26th (local time). If Seo Seung-jae wins two gold medals in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at this competition, he will be able to make badminton history as the first player in the world to win gold medals in both events at a single Olympic competition. Just like at last year’s World Championships, Seo Seung-jae will be teaming up with Kang Min-hyeok (25) in the men’s doubles and Chae Yu-jeong (29) in the mixed doubles.
Seo Seung-jae, whom we met recently at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in North Chungcheong Province, said, “It has been too long since Korea won an Olympic gold medal or even a medal in either event. I will prepare to win gold medals in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles so that I can continue the great achievements of my seniors.” The last time Korea won a gold medal in men’s doubles was in the 2004 Athens Games when the Kim Dong-moon-Ha Tae-kwon (49) team won the gold medal. There has been no mixed doubles gold medal since the 2008 Beijing Games when the Lee Yong-dae (36)-Lee Hyo-jeong (43) team won the gold medal.
Seo Seung-jae continued, “Men’s doubles and mixed doubles have different styles. I have to match up with both players, but since I only have one body, I can’t help but have limited training time. My partners train hard to make up for my shortcomings, so I always feel sorry,” and “The Olympics have a more relaxed schedule than the World Championships, so it’s fortunate that it’s less physically demanding.” Seo Seung-jae played the finals of both events on the same day at the World Championships last year. The Olympic mixed doubles finals will be on the 2nd of next month, and the men’s doubles finals will be two days later.
The two partners are preparing for the Paris Olympics with the mindset of “Seungjae Seo is my strength.” Kang Min-hyeok said, “I know Seungjae hyung is working hard in both events, so I’m always grateful,” and “Seungjae hyung is the only male player on this (badminton) national team who has Olympic experience. It’s my first Olympics, so I’m probably immature, but if hyung takes care of that part, I think we’ll get good results.”
Chae Yu-jeong, who advanced to the quarterfinals with Seo Seung-jae at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, said, “I have improved my individual skills a lot thanks to working with the best players,” and “I think that Olympic medals are a gift from heaven. I believe that if I work hard every day without regrets, I will get good results.”
The Seo Seung-jae-Kang Min-hyeok pair is ranked 2nd in the BWF men’s doubles, and the Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jeong pair is ranked 4th in the mixed doubles. In the Olympics, the top 4 rankings are seeded. If you are seeded, you will not have to face higher-ranked teams early in the tournament, so you can play relatively easily until the semifinals.
Korean badminton has never won more than two gold medals in a single Olympic competition. In this competition, the ‘shuttlecock genius’ Ahn Se-young (22) is aiming for gold medals in the women’s singles, where she is ranked first, and the pair of Lee So-hee (30) and Baek Ha-na (24), ranked second in the world, are aiming for gold medals in the women’s doubles.
The Korean badminton team, which has been training in a ‘special Olympic set’ identical to the Paris stadium at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village, left for France with the first group of national players on the 12th. The badminton team will enter Paris, the final battleground, after completing final conditioning at a pre-training camp prepared by the Korea Sports Council near Paris.
Jincheon = Reporter Im Bo-mi [email protected]
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2024-07-13 06:13:40