Kang Min-hyeok (left) and Kim Won-ho have been through Suwon Taejang Elementary School, Wonil Middle School, and Maewon High School, establishing themselves as the strongest doubles combination for men’s badminton by age group. After joining the Korean badminton team, they parted ways since 2019, but they have shown steady growth with different partners. They said strongly that they want to be a great help to the national team at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kang Min-hyuk and Kim Won-ho, who defeated Choi Sol-gyu and Seo Seung-jae with a set score of 2-0 in the 2023 Passion Korea Badminton League men’s group B group 1 match with the Armed Forces Sports Corps held at Pocheon General Gymnasium on the 22nd. Pocheon | Reporter Kwon Jae-min [email protected]
“I know now that I am no longer young.”
Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho (age 24, Samsung Life Insurance), who have accompanied Suwon Taejang Elementary School, Wonil Middle School, and Maewon High School to the unemployment team for 14 years, are the next-generation runners of Korean badminton doubles. The two, who formed a doubles group in the 4th grade of Taejang Elementary School, later established themselves as the strongest doubles combination by age, and also wore the Taegeuk mark in 2017. While the badminton national team failed to establish itself as the main combination, the partners also changed, but the two, who showed steady growth, say they want to be a big help to the national team ahead of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho beat Sol-kyu Choi (28) and Seung-jae Seo (26), the strongest men’s doubles players in Korea, with a set score of 2-0 in the 2023 Passion Korea Badminton League Men’s Group B Group 1 match with the Armed Forces Sports Corps held at Pocheon General Gymnasium on the 22nd. I was blown away and laughed. Coincidentally, Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho are teaming up with Seo Seung-jae and Choi Sol-gyu as men’s doubles partners in the national team, respectively.
Kang Min-hyuk and Kim Won-ho met with Sports Dong-a after the game that day and said, “I am working on every game and competition as an opportunity that will never come again. I think this year is the time to show the results as well as the process.”
The two players broke up when their doubles partners changed in the national team in 2019, but he explains that it wasn’t that bad. Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho said, “Because we were in doubles with friends, we tended to talk more carefully.” “When we were in doubles with seniors, we listened to advice directly, so we had the advantage of being able to make up for our shortcomings quickly.”
Coach Kim Hak-kyun (52), who was their teacher during the junior national team, took office as the national team coach in November last year, which is a good news for Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho. In addition, coach Jung Hoon-min (39) of his team also joined as a coaching staff and is a great help.
They will also participate as members of the national team at the Germany and Jeonyeong Open in March along with Choi Sol-kyu and Seo Seung-jae. In particular, Kim Won-ho recently showed good chemistry with Jeong Na-eun (23, Hwasun-gun Office) in the mixed doubles and rose to 14th in the world rankings, and is considered a next-generation runner to succeed Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jeong (28, Incheon International Airport, world ranking 10th).
For Kang Min-hyuk and Kim Won-ho, what is as important as the Olympics and Asian Games is escaping from the ‘stagnation of the men’s national team’. Kang Min-hyeok and Kim Won-ho said, “As players, we must accept criticism and criticism, but we used it as motivation to prepare harder.”
Reporter Kwon Jae-min [email protected] See more articles by reporter
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