[스포츠서울 | 김경무 전문기자] Korean badminton, which gave birth to ‘shuttlecock genius’ Ahn Se-young (21, Samsung Life Insurance) and men’s doubles and mixed doubles powerhouse Seo Seung-jae (26, Samsung Life Insurance), is performing somewhat poorly in the recent Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour.
Amid a series of injuries to national team players, the powerhouses of China and Japan are gaining momentum again, and the situation has been shaken since reaching its peak at the 2023 Copenhagen World Championships last August.
The Korean national team, led by coach Kim Hak-gyun (52), failed to win a single gold medal at the 2023 China Masters (BWF 750 Series) held in Shenzhen, China from the 21st to the 26th. 1 silver medal, 1 bronze medal.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young was eliminated early in the women’s singles round of 16 after being defeated by China’s Wang Ziyi (23), ranked 12th, 0-2 (12-21, 16-21).
After sustaining a right knee injury during the finals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last October, he had to spend more than a month in rehabilitation, which resulted in his lack of practical sense and stamina and speed not being what they used to be.
While Ahn Se-young is faltering, her rival, China’s Chen Yufei (25), who is ranked third in the world, is gaining momentum by winning the French Open and Danish Open last October and the China Masters this year.
Mixed doubles stars Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong (28, Incheon International Airport), ranked 4th in the world, have recently been unable to use their strength against China’s 1st-ranked players Zheng Si-wei (26) and Huang Ya-chong (29) and are faltering.
In the finals of this year’s China Masters, Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong were completely defeated by them 0-2 (10-21, 11-21) and were satisfied with the silver medal.
The skill and momentum they had when they faced each other in the final of the Copenhagen World Championships three months ago and defeated them 2-1 (21-17, 10-21, 21-18) and won the gold medal were nowhere to be seen. There were a lot of mistakes.
As a result, Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong were at an absolute disadvantage with 2 wins and 13 losses to Zheng Si-wei and Huang Ya-chong in their head-to-head record. In order to win a gold medal at next year’s Paris Olympics, we will need to work hard to come up with new strategies.
In women’s doubles, where Korea has been strong for the past year, it is falling behind China and Japan again due to injuries.
In the quarterfinals of this year’s China Masters, the world’s second-ranked Lee So-hee (29, Incheon International Airport) and Baek Hana (23, MG Saemaeul Geumgo) lost 0-2 (16-) to the fifth-ranked Japan’s Nami Matsuyama (25) and Chiharu Shida (26). 21, 17-21) and was eliminated.
Baek Hana was not in normal condition as she was unable to participate in the world tour for a while due to a shoulder injury after the Hangzhou Asian Games.
At the China Masters, world No. 11 Kim Hye-jung (25, Samsung Life Insurance) and Jeong Na-eun (23, Hwasun County Office) advanced to the semifinals instead, but lost 0-2 (13-21, 20-22) to Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. I was satisfied with the bronze medal.
Coach Park Joo-bong’s Japan was falling behind the Korean pair of China’s Qian Qingchen (26) and Ji Aifan (25), the world’s No. 1 team, in women’s doubles this year, but returned to an upward trend with the China Masters.
The world’s fourth-ranked veterans, Yuki Fukushima (30) and Sayaka Hirota (29), showed off their strength by defeating Chen Qingchen and Jiaifan 2-1 (14-21, 21-16, 21-15) in the semifinals.
In the final match between Japanese teams, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida defeated Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) to take the gold medal.
In men’s doubles, veteran Choi Sol-gyu (28, Yonex) retired from the national team after the Hangzhou Asian Games, and his partner Kim Won-ho (24, Samsung Life Insurance) must find a new partner.
They reached the finals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but were unfortunately pushed back to silver medals.
Seungjae Seo and Minhyuk Kang (24, Samsung Life Insurance), ranked 6th in the world, failed to win the China Open, Denmark Open, or French Open after achieving the gold medal at the Copenhagen World Championships.
Then, he came out on top at the Korea Masters this month. However, he faced an ambush from China in the quarterfinals of the China Masters and was eliminated. [email protected]
2023-11-27 05:07:43
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