(Reporter Kwon Dong-hwan, Xports News) Chae Yu-jeong, a former member of the Korean national badminton team, moved to her rival China to work as a coach at a badminton academy, and drew attention by uploading a photo of herself eating Tanghulu while wearing traditional Chinese clothing.
On the 17th, Chae Yoo-jung revealed her current status through her Instagram account by posting several photos with the phrase “New experience!”
Chae Yu-jeong wore traditional Chinese clothing and took pictures in various poses in front of the castle. The hairstyle was also changed to match the outfit, and the ‘Chinese woman’s style’ was shown to the fullest by holding a fan or Tanghulu in her hand.
Some Chinese fans who saw the photo showed enthusiastic reactions in the comments, saying, “It’s so pretty,” “It suits you so well,” and “Have fun. It’s so pretty.”
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Chae Yu-jeong played an active role as Korea’s leading badminton mixed doubles player. He won a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and won the championship at the 2023 World Championships.
At the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, he paired with Seo Seung-jae and advanced to the semifinals of the mixed doubles, but finished in 4th place and was unable to achieve his lifelong dream of winning an Olympic medal.
Chae Yu-jeong, who partnered with Lee Jong-min after the Paris Olympics, immediately announced her retirement from the national team after being eliminated in the round of 32 of the 2025 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour French Open (Super 750) in October last year.
At the time, Chae Yoo-jeong explained the background to why she had no choice but to retire from the national team, saying, “Because the national team selection competition is for the mixed doubles event, there is no selection competition itself yet, so I would have to compete as a women’s doubles athlete, but for that, I have been competing as a mixed doubles player for a long time.”
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He added, “So, I thought it would be too difficult a journey for me to try out in women’s doubles, and I didn’t have the confidence to come back, so I decided to give up.”
After retiring from the national team, Chae Yu-jung received a love call from Zheng Si-wei, a doubles player for the Chinese national team, and moved to China to become a coach.
Zheng Shiwei established a badminton academy in Hangzhou, China in June of last year, and recognized the abilities of Chae Yu-jeong, whom he had faced on the court several times during his career, and brought him in as a coach.
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After taking office as coach, Chae Yu-jeong expressed her feelings through a video message in Chinese, saying, “I am very happy to become the coach of the Zheng Shiwei International Badminton Training Base. I look forward to meeting everyone in the new year.”
Photo = Chae Yoo-jeong SNS
Reporter Kwon Dong-hwan kkddhh95@xportsnews.com
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