(Xports News Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon) The world’s 3rd place Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) and the world’s 5th place Kim Hye-jung (Samsung Life Insurance) and Gong Hee-yong (Jeonbuk Bank) came together to form a new group.
It was an unexpected victory. Taiwanese players collapsed greatly.
The locally created team of Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jeong overwhelmed the Taiwanese doubles team at the 2026 Asian Badminton Men’s and Women’s Team Championships.
The team of Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jung won 2-0 (21-6 21-6) in the second match of the Group Z match against the team of Shu Yin-hui and Lin Zhiyun (world No. 14) held at Kon Son Stadium in Qingdao, China on the 5th (Korean time).
The format of this tournament is a best-of-five series consisting of 3 singles matches and 2 doubles matches to determine the winner or loser, but in the group stage, all 5 matches are played even if the winner or loser is decided for the purpose of calculating the difference in goals and losses.
Previously, against Singapore, the team of Kim Hye-jeong and Gong Hee-yong appeared, while the team of Baek Hana and Lee So-hee took a break.
However, ahead of the match against Taiwan, Lee So-hee missed the game due to injury, so Baek Hana and Kim Hye-jung improvised a new combination to face Taiwan.
The pair of Kim Hye-jung and Gong Hee-yong and Baek Hana and Lee So-hee are a one-two punch in Korean women’s doubles, but they also have a rivalry in international competitions. Last December, they met in the group stage of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals, and the pair of Baek Hana and Lee Sohee won 2-0. The pair of Baek Hana and Lee Sohee used their victory as a foundation to advance to the semifinals and then win the championship. Then, one person from each group came out and formed a new union.
The Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jeong pair, who inherited the victory after Ahn Se-young won the first singles match, showed stable performance against the Taiwanese group, which was ranked low in the world, and took the lead.
The team of Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jung quickly advanced to 11-1 with an overwhelming play. Due to the opponent’s mistakes and other good luck, they gave up only 6 points in just 15 minutes and won 1 game.
In the second game, the overwhelming performance of Baek Hana and Kim Hye-jeong shined. They took a big lead of 5-0 without conceding a goal in the beginning. They gave up 1 point due to an embarrassing service mistake, but after that, they maintained their concentration and went back to the interval with a score of 11-1 following the first game.
Even after the interval, the team showed an overwhelming performance. The team of Baek Hana and Kim Hye-jeong increased their score without paying attention to the opponent’s strategy of targeting Kim Hye-jeong.
The pair of Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jung, who took the lead without difficulty while their opponent made a series of mistakes, gave up only 12 points in two games and won a landslide victory. They work together better than expected, so it looks like they will get a good response from the badminton world.
In this tournament, 11 countries, including Korea, will compete in four groups, and the top two countries from each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore were tied in Group Z, and Singapore, which had previously lost to Korea, also lost to Taiwan that day, recording two losses, confirming its elimination from the group stage.
If Korea defeats Chinese Taipei, it will be guaranteed first place in the group.
World-class badminton powers such as China, Japan, and Indonesia sent 1.5 teams to this tournament, but it is still not very pleasant to meet in the quarterfinals. They must beat Chinese Taipei and secure first place in the group to face a relatively easy team in the quarterfinals.
Previously, in Korea, in the first singles, world No. 1 Ahn Se-young beat No. 14 Qiu Pin Qian 2-0 in 39 minutes with a game score of 2-0 (21-10 21-13). Ahn Se-young often used sharp drop shots in the first or second games, taking away the opponent’s strength. Ahn Se-young, born in 2002, today was her 24th birthday. As if celebrating a birthday, he used refreshing shots and cooked his opponent.
After winning, Ahn Se-young gave a positive vote and also provided fan service that convinced Chinese fans. In the first match of the group stage against Singapore held on the 3rd, Ahn Se-young suffered from a significant decline in the opponent’s skills, and took a break to prepare for the quarterfinals and finals of the tournament.
In Korea, Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance) will face Lin Xiangti in the second singles match, and in the second doubles match, Lee Seo-jin (Incheon International Airport) and Lee Yeon-woo (Samsung Life Insurance) will face Shu Ya-qing and Song Yu-shan. In the third singles match, Park Ga-eun (Gimcheon City Hall) faces Song Shuo-yun.
Photo = Yonhap News / Badminton Asia SNS
Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon sbjhk8031@xportsnews.com
