Korea badminton team wins 3 world championship gold

The Korean national badminton team hit the jackpot at the World Championships held a month before the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Korea won gold medals in three out of five events (women's singles, mixed doubles, men's doubles) at the 2023 BWF World Championships, which ended on Monday in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Korean team also brought home a bronze medal in women's doubles. Three gold and one bronze medal is Korea's all-time record in this championship, which started in 1977.

Ahn Se-yeong (21, Samsung Life Insurance), the “shuttlecock genius” who is ranked first in the women’s singles world rankings, became the first Korean player to win the world singles championship by winning this year’s tournament.

Seo Seung-jae (26, Samsung Life Insurance), the “emperor of left-handed doubles,” took first place in mixed doubles paired with Chae Yoo-jeong (28, Incheon International Airport) and men’s doubles with Kang Min-hyuk (24, Samsung Life Insurance). Seo Seung-jae is the fourth Korean badminton player to win two world championships, following Park Joo-bong (1985, 1991) and Kim Dong-moon (1999).

Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong of the “Kim Kong Duo” won the bronze medal by winning the 3rd and 4th place matches. All in all, the duo left a record for three consecutive years, following third place in 2021 and the runner-up last year.

All six Korean players who won this competition will participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Seven gold medals are at stake in badminton at the Asian Games, including men's and women's team events. The record for the most gold medals in Korean badminton at the Asian Games was four in Hiroshima in 1994 and Busan in 2002. As for the total number of medals, 10 (three gold, gold silver, and five bronze medals) were the highest in the 1986 Seoul Games.


hun@donga.com