“Single matches with two games a day is just asking someone to die, isn’t it?” South Korean badminton star An Se-young said.
Kim Ga-eun has been forced to withdraw from two upcoming World Tour Super 750 tournaments due to injuries and exhaustion sustained under a demanding schedule at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, according to sports reports.
Tournament Withdrawals Follow Asian Games Exhaustion
The Badminton Korea Association announced its roster for the upcoming international events on Tuesday. Kim, ranked world number 12 in women’s singles, was originally slated to compete in both the Denmark Open and the French Open under World Tour regulations requiring top 15 players to enter Super 750 events. However, physical toll from the recent Asian Games in Japan ruled her out of the trips.
The Denmark Open is scheduled to open on October 13, followed by the French Open on October 20. Both tournaments carry a total prize pool of $950,000 USD. With Kim sidelined, South Korea’s entries in the women’s singles draw will be limited to world number one An Se-young and world number 16 Sim Yu-jin.
Retirement in Aichi-Nagoya and Double-Duty Scheduling
Kim’s absence stems from an abrupt end to her campaign at the Asian Games in Ichinomiya, Japan. On September 26 during the women’s singles round of 16, Kim retired from her match against China’s world number two Wang Zhiyi while trailing 0-1 in games. The decision left her with a team bronze medal but ended her individual run prematurely.
The physical breakdown followed a grueling team event where Kim sustained a thigh injury that forced her to sit out the semifinal match against Japan on September 23. Despite treatment over the following two days, tournament scheduling forced both 32nd-round and 16th-round matches into single days across morning and afternoon sessions—a departure from standard international tournament formats where singles players contest only one match per day.
After defeating Bangladesh 2-0 in an early-round match, Kim remarked on the cramped conditions backstage. “I won’t go back to the village; I’ll just lay a mat in a corner of the stadium and eat triangle kimbap to prepare,” she said prior to her evening fixtures. Matches stretched deep into the night, concluding near midnight before Kim ultimately bowed out.
An Se-young Condemns Schedule After Teammate’s Breakdown
The heavy match load drew sharp criticism from within the national team. An Se-young, who holds the world number one ranking and serves as a Badminton World Federation Athletes’ Commission member, spoke out following her victory over Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon on September 27.
“I haven’t talked with foreign players about this, but when I talked with (Kim) Ga-eun unni, playing two games a day in singles makes me feel like it’s just asking someone to die, and it’s unfortunate,” An said. Her remarks drew widespread attention from Japanese and international media outlets covering the tournament.
Kim Withdraws from European World Tour Stops
The Badminton Korea Association confirmed that the national team will travel to Europe without Kim as the squad prepares for the World Tour stops. The Super 750 events represent the second-highest tier of the BWF World Tour circuit. Kim’s withdrawal leaves the South Korean delegation with reduced depth in the women’s singles bracket as the European leg gets underway.
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