The national badminton team’s golden return (Yeongjong-do = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hwa-young = National badminton team coach Park Joo-bong (from left), Seo Seung-jae, Kim Won-ho, Ahn Se-young, Lee So-hee and Baek Hana, who won three gold medals at the Badminton World Tour Finals, are taking a commemorative photo after returning to Korea through Incheon International Airport on the 22nd. 2025.12.22 [email protected]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = Seo Seung-jae (Samsung Life Insurance), the ‘signature’ of Korean men’s doubles, will not be able to participate in the Asian Team Championships due to injury.
According to Yonhap News coverage on the 1st, Seo Seung-jae was excluded from the list for this tournament as he did not fully recover from the shoulder injury he suffered during the Malaysia Open last month.
The national badminton team, excluding Seo Seung-jae, left for Qingdao, China, the venue of the competition, via Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 1st.
The 2026 Asian Men’s and Women’s Team Badminton Championships, which will be held from the 3rd to the 8th, is a competition that also serves as the Asian regional qualifier for the World Men’s and Women’s Team Badminton Championships to be held in Denmark in April.
You must advance to the semifinals or higher in this competition to secure a spot in the finals of the World Men’s Team Championship (Thomas Cup) and the World Women’s Team Championship (Uber Cup).
Korea will challenge for its first ever ‘joint championship’ in this competition. Korea has yet to come out on top in this competition, which is held every two years.
In the meantime, second-level players were dispatched for reasons such as schedule and conditioning, but this time, unlike previous years, they displayed a strong will to win by operating a ‘complete’ lineup that included world-class top ranked players in both the men’s and women’s divisions.
Badminton ‘world’s best’ Se-young Ahn answers questions (Yeongjong-do = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Joo-hyung = Korean badminton star Se-young Ahn is answering questions from reporters after returning from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 India Open held in New Delhi, India on the 19th. Seyoung Ahn achieved her second consecutive victory in this competition following last year. 2026.1.19 [email protected]
Looking at past results, the best performance in the women’s team event was runner-up in 2020 and 2022, and the men’s team event won bronze medals a total of four times, including the 2024 competition.
Unlike the typical individual competition, the competition is held in the form of a national competition. A combination of 3 singles matches and 2 doubles matches will be decided based on best 3 wins out of 5 matches.
The participating countries go through the group stage, and the top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, where the final winner is determined by a single match.
As the national team is enjoying a ‘golden era’ recently, expectations are high for its performance in this competition. The women’s team will feature 10 elite members, led by the world’s strongest Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance, 1st place).
In particular, the women’s doubles pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na (Incheon International Airport, 3rd place) is showing off her peak skills by winning 2 consecutive wins in the ‘King of Kings’ World Tour Finals, which gathered only the top ranked players last season, and taking second place in this year’s Malaysia Open.
In addition, the world’s 5th ranked team, Kim Hye-jung (Samsung Life Insurance) and Gong Hee-yong (Jeonbuk Bank), are also aiming for a medal.
Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho posing (Yeongjong-do = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hwa-young = Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, who achieved 11 championships in 11 months after forming a badminton doubles team, are posing for a pose after returning to Korea through Incheon International Airport on the 22nd. 2025.12.22 [email protected]
On the other hand, the men’s team suffered an inevitable loss of power due to Seo Seung-jae’s departure.
While the international competitiveness of singles runners such as Yoo Tae-bin (Gimcheon City Hall, 73rd), Choi Ji-hoon (Samsung Life Insurance, 110th), Park Sang-yong (Yonex, 137th), and Jo Hyun-woo (Gimcheon City Hall, 217th) are considered a challenge, even the key men’s doubles pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho has become unable to operate.
Kim Won-ho, who lost his partner, plans to fill the gap in power by working with other players on the field.
As a result of the group formation, the Korean women’s national team was placed in Group Z with Taiwan and Singapore, and the men’s national team played in Group A with Taiwan and Hong Kong.
▶ Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
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