After retiring from the national team, Chae Yu-jeong, who played as a leading figure in Korean badminton mixed doubles, moved to rival China and worked as a coach at a badminton academy.
Chinese media ‘NetEase’ reported on the 6th (Korean time), “Retired Chae Yu-jeong personally announced that he had joined Zheng Shiwei’s badminton training base as a coach.”
Zheng Shiwei is a Chinese badminton doubles representative. He worked with female player Hwang Ya-chong to rise to No. 1 in the world rankings, and won a silver and gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, respectively.
Zheng Si-wei also has a relationship with Cai Yu-jeong. Chae Yu-jeong formed a doubles team with Seo Seung-jae at the 2023 World Championships and advanced to the finals. By defeating Jeong Si-wei and Hwang Ya-chong with a game score of 2-1, Korea won the world championship mixed doubles gold medal for the first time in 20 years since Kim Dong-moon (currently president of the Korea Badminton Association) and Ra Kyung-min in 2003.
The two reunited as coaches in China. Zheng Shiwei, who retired after the Paris Olympics, established a badminton academy in Hangzhou, China in June last year, and Chae Yu-jeong, who announced her retirement from the national team in October last year, joined as a coach.
The media explained, “Even after retirement, Zheng Shiwei did not leave badminton. He established the ‘Zheng Shiwei International Badminton Base’ in Hangzhou to foster promising badminton players.”
He added, “A coaching team was needed to run the training base, but amid fans’ expectations, Chae Yu-jung went straight to Hangzhou and joined the coaching team at the Zhengshiwei badminton base instead of pursuing financial gain through overseas expansion or joining a prestigious club.”
In addition, “Chae Yoo-jung suddenly announced her retirement in October last year and said, ‘I couldn’t hold out because there was no mixed doubles national team selection event in Korea.'”
According to the media, Cai Yu-Jing recently said in a video message in Chinese, “I am very happy to become a coach at Zheng Shiwei International Badminton Training Base. I look forward to meeting everyone in the new year.”
Regarding Chae Yoo-jung’s joining the coaching team, the media emphasized, “Based on her outstanding skills and reputation, Chae Yoo-jung is a player who can receive a high salary at any club even though she is no longer a member of the Korean national team. Choosing Chung Si-wei among several options shows the strong relationship and deep friendship between the two.”
In addition, “Chae Yu-jung is a very popular player among Chinese fans, and her joining is expected to encourage more people to participate in training at Zheng Si-wei’s training base,” he said. “Therefore, the cooperation between Chae Yu-jung and Zheng Si-wei will be a win-win for both parties.”
As the media claimed, Chae Yu-jeong played an active role as Korea’s mixed doubles star, winning a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. It is very popular and has a huge fan base in China.
Chae Yu-jeong paired with Seo Seung-jae at the last Paris Olympics and advanced to the semifinals. Although he finished in 4th place and did not win an Olympic medal, he still had the skills to play on the international stage, but he announced his retirement from the national team, raising questions.
At the time, Chae Yoo-jeong explained why she had no choice but to retire from the national team, saying, “The national team selection competition is for the mixed doubles event, so there is no selection competition itself yet, so I would have to compete as a women’s doubles athlete, but for that, I have been competing as a mixed doubles player for a long time.”
He added, “So, I thought it would be too difficult a journey for me to try out in women’s doubles, and I didn’t have the confidence to come back, so I decided to give up.”
Photo = NetEase / Chae Yu-jeong SNS
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