Korean badminton is flapping its wings of revival. The 2023 World Mixed Team Badminton Championships (Sudirman Cup), which ended on the 21st, was also a moment to confirm this again.
Korean badminton, which challenged to win the tournament for the first time in six years, was blocked by China and finished runner-up. However, the performance itself was a competition that showed more than runner-up. World No. 2 Ahn Se-young in women’s singles defeated Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) and Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan) in men’s doubles. After defeating Alpian-Muhammad Lian Ardianto (Indonesia), they also defeated Aaron Chia-Soweik (Malaysia), the world’s second-ranked player, in this tournament, proving that their skills were not accidental. Mixed doubles and women’s doubles also confirmed international competitiveness.
After coach Kim Hak-gyun took the helm in November last year, the national team is on an upward curve. In terms of major international competitions she participated in this year (excluding the Korea-Japan match), she won 10 gold medals, 14 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals in 13 competitions. In 11 competitions in which 10 or more players participated, all of them made it to the finals. The Jeonyeong Open in March is the highlight. Women’s singles gold medal (Ahn Se-young), women’s doubles gold medal (Kim So-young-Gong Hee-yong) and silver medals (Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee), mixed doubles silver medal (Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yoo-jeong) and bronze medals (Kim Won-ho-Jung Na-eun) returned to their heyday. showed the appearance of메이저놀이터
Coach Kim, who served as the national team coach and the junior national team commander for a long time, strengthened communication after taking office, strengthened trust between the leader and players, and devoted himself to improving basic physical strength at the Jincheon National Training Center in between participating in international competitions. evaluation comes out. He was also concerned with discovering new doubles combinations, and as soon as he debuted, he showed off a ‘new weapon’ (Kim Won-ho-Na Seong-seung) that boasted the world’s best skills.
In this trend, Korean badminton is inflating expectations for the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and the Paris Olympics next year. Korean badminton, which reigned as a shuttlecock powerhouse in the 1990s and mid-2000s, suffered the humiliation of a no medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and has not won a gold medal on the Olympic stage since the 2008 Beijing Games.
Coach Kim said, “There are still many areas to be strengthened, but in Hangzhou, my goal is to win medals evenly across all events.” said forcefully.