Seo Seung-jae (left) and Chae Yu-jeong, who won the mixed doubles title at the 2023 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, are being interviewed after returning to Korea through Incheon International Airport on the morning of the 29th.
The world's third-ranked badminton mixed doubles team, Seung-jae Seo (Samsung Life Insurance) and Yoo-jeong Chae (Incheon Airport), defeated the top-ranked player in the finals of the World Championships, which was considered the biggest upset in badminton in 2023.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) released the top 10 surprising matches from the badminton world this year through its YouTube account on the 26th (Korean time).
Among these, the first video to appear was the match between Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong, the world's No. 1 team, against Zheng Si-wei and Huang Ya-chong (China) in the final of the World Championships last August. It is also the only match for Korean players.
The team of Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong, who had suffered the humiliation of losing all 9 matches to the group of Zheng Si-wei and Huang Ya-chung since 2018, met their natural enemy in the finals of the World Championships, but they defied expectations and came out on top.
The team of Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong succeeded in taking the lead by winning one game.
The team seemed to lose momentum by immediately dropping two games, but in game three, they made a mistake with their solid defense and ended up winning 21-18, a surprise victory.
Thanks to the performance of Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong, Korean badminton achieved the feat of winning a mixed doubles gold medal at the World Championships 20 years after the team of Kim Dong-moon and Ra Gyeong-min in 2003.
The pair of Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong then showed their momentum by defeating the team of Zheng Si-wei and Huang Ya-chung again in the quarterfinals of the China Open in September.
Although he lost all six matches since then, he built up confidence that he could win against top-ranked players.
The pair of Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jeong, currently ranked 3rd in the world, is aiming to make a leap forward at next year's Paris Olympics.
Although there is still room for improvement in terms of physical strength and technical skills, it is assessed that the current momentum can be maintained if the team recharges with the goal of the Olympics. 19가이드03