Kim Won-ho & Seo Seung-jae Win Japan Masters: Korea’s Historic Badminton Victory

[스포티비뉴스=박대성 기자] Korean men’s badminton set a historic record in Japan. The pair of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae won their 10th championship of the season, opening a new chapter in world doubles history.

The pair of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae defeated Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita 2-1 in the men’s doubles final of the 2025 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Kumamoto Masters held at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium in Japan on the 16th. This victory was the 10th victory that the two players have won this year alone, and was the moment when they tied for the most wins in men’s doubles in the world in a single season. It is a rare achievement not only in Korean doubles but also in world badminton history. In particular, the two players are leading the trend of Korean badminton this season, winning 10 gold medals ahead of Ahn Se-young, who did not participate in this tournament.

The finals were completed with a fierce comeback drama. The team of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae was shaken, losing the first game 20-22, but their performance revived in the second game and created an overwhelming trend. The two players, who brightened the mood by scoring five consecutive points in the first half, ended the game at 21-11 without giving the Japanese group a single chance. Even in the three games at stake, they solidified their early lead and finished with a score of 21-16, completing a come-from-behind victory. Above all, losing game 1 was even more dramatic because it was the first game lost in this tournament.

The performance of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae this season was itself a ‘badminton legend’. The two players started by winning the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) in January of this year, followed by the German Open (Super 300) and the All England Open (Super 1000). They quickly rose to the top of the world by defeating the powerful Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian groups one after another, and their upward trend did not stop. They became world champions by winning the Indonesia Open in June, the Japan Open in July, and the World Championships in August, establishing themselves as the hottest combination this season.

The two players’ trend continued in the second half. After recording nine gold medals by sweeping the Chinese Masters and Korea Open in September and the French Open in October, he finally achieved his tenth title by winning the Kumamoto Masters. 10 wins in a single season is an unprecedented record in Korean doubles history. The previous records for the most wins were Park Joo-bong and Kim Moon-soo’s 8, and Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong and Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon’s 7, but the Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae pair surpassed this and set a new standard for Korean badminton.

The two players disbanded in 2019, but formed a group again after about six years in January of this year. When Kang Min-hyuk, who originally worked with Seo Seung-jae, enlisted in the ROK Army Athletic Corps, Kim Won-ho returned as a new partner, and from the first year of reunion, they created a miraculous season in which they ranked first in the world and achieved 10 gold medals. BWF praised them, saying, “The two players boldly crossed the threshold of history.” In particular, he highly praised the achievements of the two players, saying, “They tied the record for most men’s doubles wins set by China’s Li Yongbo and Tianbing in 1988, creating the first double-digit number of wins in a single season in the 21st century.”

This win is more than just a season achievement, it also has great significance in the world of badminton. BWF predicted, “A new doubles legend was born in Kumamoto. Their season is not over yet. They can rewrite history at the World Tour Finals held in Hangzhou, China next month.” The World Tour Finals is a top-level competition in which only the top 8 groups in each event can participate, and attention is focused on whether the two players will write an even bigger record after winning 10 gold medals.

While Ahn Se-young tied the women’s singles record for the most wins in a single season (9 wins), the men’s doubles pair of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae confirmed Korea’s first and world record, confirming the power of Korean badminton again.