[SPORTALKOREA] Reporter Hwangbo Dong-hyuk = Korean badminton is showing a trend of leaping forward beyond China to become a new powerhouse.
Chinese media outlet ‘NetEase’ reported on the 21st, “The Korean national team swept three gold medals at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2025 held in Hangzhou, creating a strong sense of crisis in Chinese badminton.”
In fact, Korea took the top spot in women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles. In the women’s singles, An Se-young defeated Wang Zhiyi, and in the men’s doubles, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho defeated Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang. In the women’s doubles, the pair of Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na won the championship, defeating Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
As a result, Korea achieved the success of winning three gold medals out of five events in this competition.
NetEase emphasized, “This achievement is especially symbolic in that it is the result of directly defeating Chinese players in front of Chinese home fans.”
He continued, “The competitiveness of Korean players has noticeably improved in women’s singles and doubles overall, and this is at a level that can no longer be viewed as a coincidence or temporary achievement.”
In addition, the media reported, “Voices of concern are beginning to emerge among Chinese badminton fans due to Korea’s rapid rise,” and “The structure that once boasted of absolute superiority is shaking, and Korea is emerging as China’s most threatening competitor.”
In fact, China may feel threatened by South Korea. If it weren’t for Korea, we could have actually added three gold medals. They lost to Korea in the women’s singles and men’s doubles finals, and in the women’s doubles team, Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na advanced to the finals by defeating China’s Ryu Seong-su and Tanning, who reigned as the overwhelming number one in the world, 2-1 in the semifinals.
Attention is being paid to whether Korea, which has grown step by step and has risen to the position of threatening China, the strongest badminton nation, can now completely turn the tables as a powerhouse rather than a chaser.
Photo = Korea Badminton Association SNS, BWF
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