Seo Seung-jae (above) and Chae Yoo-jeong. Photo = Getty Images Korea
The Korean national badminton team was the hottest team in the 2023 Sudirman Cup (World Mixed Team Championships) held from the 14th to the 21st at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center in China. With teamwork at the forefront, they made it to the finals with a victory and announced the potential of ‘K-Badminton’ to the world.
Korea turned all variables into positive. Women’s singles Ahn Se-yeong (21, Samsung Life Insurance, world ranking 2nd) and mixed doubles Seo Seung-jae (26, Armed Forces Athletic Corps) – Chae Yoo-jeong (28, Incheon International Airport, 5th), women’s doubles Baek Ha-na (22, MG Saemaul Geumgo) – Sangsoo Lee (29, Incheon International Airport, 5th), as well as men’s singles Jeon Hyeok-jin (29, Yonex, 69th) and men’s doubles Kim Won-ho (24, Samsung Life Insurance) – Na Seong-seung (24, Gimcheon City Hall, 803rd), etc. Even the variables were very active, so I was able to reap good results naturally.
The driving force behind such a fierce whirlwind is teamwork. Team coach Kim Hak-gyun (52) and other coaching staff have all had their business cards colored gold since taking office in November last year. It is an expression of a strong will to win gold medals in major international competitions such as the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics in September.
The players also played the Sudirman Cup in an atmosphere of encouraging each other while understanding the thoughts of the coaching staff. Captain Kim So-yeong (31, Incheon International Airport), who was restricted from participating in this tournament due to injury, cheered for her juniors because her throat was breaking on the bench every game. Seo Seung-jae also played an important role every time by overcoming a back injury and competing in men’s and mixed doubles. In particular, in the mixed doubles match against Malaysia on the 20th in the quarterfinals, he released the first set and showed off his fighting spirit by winning two or three sets in succession.
Seyoung Ahn. Photo = Getty Images Korea
The coaching staff also became one within the realm of the team. When Ahn Se-young showed nervousness ahead of facing Tai Tzu-ying (3rd place) in the quarterfinals against Taiwan on the 19th, Han Dong-seong (47), national team men’s doubles coach, comforted her by saying, “Tai Tzu-ying will be more nervous against you.”
Supported by the results, the local popularity of our national team was considerable. At the Kempinski Hotel and the stadium, many players, including Ahn Se-young, were flooded with autograph requests. On the 20th, when the final was confirmed, the field staff said “Congratulations” in Korean to the national team officials. At that time, Japanese officials ahead of the semi-final against China saw this scene and repeated the word “envy”.
Suzhou (China) | Reporter Kwon Jae-min [email protected]
Copyright holder (c) Sports Donga. Unauthorized reproduction – redistribution prohibited.
2023-05-21 05:19:39
#Sudirman #Cup #heated #Korean #badminton.. #keywords #teamwork #KBadminton #craze
