(Xports News Reporter Yoon Jun-seok) The new year of 2026 has arrived. Badminton teams from around the world are setting ambitious goals.
Malaysia, which is considered one of the two major badminton mountains in Southeast Asia along with Indonesia, is once again jumping into 2026 with the goal of reclaiming the world’s top spot. It is noticeable that Malaysia has not won any Olympic gold medals compared to its population of 35 million, but it is proud of itself in badminton, winning 6 silver and 5 bronze medals out of 8 silver and 7 bronze medals.
At this point, reports are coming out that Korean players are too strong and are blocking Malaysia’s path, attracting attention.
In a preview article looking at the 2026 badminton season on the 1st (Korean time), the Malaysian media ‘Shinchu Ilbo’ pointed out the challenges of the national team and also mentioned the women’s singles powerhouse Ahn Se-young and the men’s doubles team of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae as the strongest candidates for the championship on the world stage.
The newspaper is ‘2026 Badminton Preview – From Thomas & Uber Cup (Thomas Cup – Men’s Team World Championship, Uber Cup – Women’s Team World Championship) to the Asian Games… An article was published titled ‘Malaysia, once again advancing to glory’.
In this article, the media mentioned a good performance at the World Badminton Championships to be held in New Delhi, India in August as the top goal for the Malaysian national team this year.
“The New Delhi World Championships, which will be held from August 17 to 23, is one of the most important competitions in the badminton world in 2026 along with the Thomas & Uber Cup,” he said. “Malaysia is setting a goal to produce additional world champions through this competition.”
He added, “I hope that Malaysian badminton will make another breakthrough this year and increase the number of world champions.”
However, ‘Shinchu Ilbo’ took a cool look at the competitive landscape. In particular, Korea’s top players were cited as the biggest obstacle ahead of Malaysia’s challenge.
In particular, he specifically mentioned Korean players who have world-class power in singles and doubles.
The newspaper said, “However, looking at the world badminton landscape as of 2025, Korea’s world number one Ahn Se-young is the strongest candidate to win the women’s singles, and the defending champions Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae are maintaining their top spot in the men’s doubles.”
The explanation is that in order to achieve the huge goal of becoming a world champion, beating the most successful Korean players in 2025 should be a priority.
In fact, Malaysia does not have a strong player in women’s singles. In men’s doubles, the pair of Aaron Chia and So Wi-ik is ranked second in the world, following the pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho. Man Wei Chong-Khaiun Un Ti Jo is ranked 5th in the world. However, the newspaper’s analysis is that the pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho won 11 wins in international competitions, including the World Championships and World Tour Finals last year, so it will be difficult for the two Malaysian pairs to overcome.
Malaysia welcomes the new year with the dream of world domination, but now there is a huge wall called Korea standing in its path.
For one reason or another, the status of Korean badminton is at an all-time high.
Photo = Yonhap News
Reporter Junseok Yoon jupremebd@xportsnews.com
