Korea Badminton women’s doubles team Lee So-hee (from left), Gong Hee-yong, Kim So-young, and Shin Seung-chan are hugging and encouraging each other in an interview after a friendly match in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics on the 2nd. Tokyo = no cut news
Badminton women’s doubles bronze medal match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was held between Korean players. On the 2nd, at Musashinonomori Sports Plaza in Tokyo, Japan, world ranking 4th place Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan (27, Incheon International Airport) and 5th place Kim So-young (29, Incheon International Airport) and Gong Hee-yong (25, Jeonbuk Bank) faced off.
Previously, Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan had 4 wins and 2 losses, but in January of this year, in terms of the international tournament in Thailand, it was 1 win and 1 loss. Moreover, it was a game that could not be backed down because it was the biggest stage of the Olympics, a medal that only the winners had.
However, Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong, who do not have an Olympic medal yet, were stronger. Sohee Lee also doesn’t have a medal, but Seungchan Shin won the women’s doubles bronze medal five years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
In the first game, Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong won 21-10 with a unique strong attack strategy. In the second game, Sohee Lee and Seungchan Shin also revived their defensive organization and counterattacked, but they could not overcome the opponent who poured strong smashing in the match.
The players who finished the match in good faith hugged their partners first. After that, Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong crossed the net and hugged Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan. It was congratulations and congratulations.
After the match, Kim So-young shed tears, saying, “I know how I have prepared and I know what my juniors are like, so I shouldn’t say that, but ‘I’m sorry’ came out first.” Then, “I said, “You did a good job,” so my juniors also said, ‘You worked hard, sister.'” “I’m the oldest, so I went to the Olympics for the first time, but I thought it would be my last,” he said.
He also showed affection for his partner. Gong Hee-yong said, “I was thinking of playing with my unnie without regrets for the last game, and I’m grateful (for winning a medal).” “My sister is not sick and I think she finished well,” she said with a bright smile between her tears.
Unfortunately, it was the same for Sohee Lee and Seungchan Shin. Lee So-hee said, “It would have been nice to have met each other in the final as we watched each other prepare so hard, but it was a bit cruel to compete for one bronze medal. I heard it, and congratulations from the bottom of my heart.”
But it wasn’t just tears. They also showed a deep affection for their teammates. Gong Hee-yong said, “The four of us ate breakfast together this morning,” and said, “We didn’t talk about the game, but we talked about Song Kang, the actor in the drama ‘I Know’.”
Shin Seung-chan also said, “(Kim So-young’s older sister) kept telling me to watch that drama” and “I fell for it after watching it even though I didn’t like it.” Then, to the reporter’s question, “Isn’t it your opponent’s plan?”, Shin Seung-chan laughed, “I mean. I must have come this far because I was excited and pounding.” It was a happy ending for the Korean badminton women’s doubles team, where tears and laughter intersect.
