▲ World No. 1 men's doubles badminton pair Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho
World No. 1 men's doubles badminton pair Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho (both of Samsung Life Insurance) have returned to form, advancing to the final of the Japan Open after a brief slump.
Seo and Kim secured their spot in the final by defeating Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia (world No. 6) 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Japan Open, held in Tokyo today (July 18).
Seo and Kim, who swept gold medals in 11 tournaments last year and tied the record for the most wins in a single season alongside An Se-young, had recently shown signs of a slight decline.
They were eliminated in the semifinals at both the Singapore Open, a Super 750 event, and the subsequent Super 1000 Indonesia Open in June.
However, after taking a month-long break, the pair displayed much lighter movement in this tournament.
Seo and Kim took control early in the first game, scoring six consecutive points from a 7-6 lead, and comfortably took the game 21-12.
The Malaysian pair, having lost the first game by a large margin, raised their pace from the start of the second game and applied intense pressure.
Caught by the opponent's offensive, Seo and Kim trailed 5-11 at the interval and struggled to defend against Malaysia's attacks thereafter.
Seo and Kim were so tightly contained that they only managed their first consecutive points when they were already trailing 9-19.
After dropping the second game 11-21, the pair started fresh in the final third game, taking an early lead with three consecutive points.
Leading 7-5, they demonstrated tenacious concentration, ending a grueling 52-shot rally by piercing the opponent's open space on the right, effectively discouraging any pursuit.
Although the Malaysian pair caught up to tie the score at 11-11 after the interval, Seo and Kim immediately pulled away by scoring three straight points.
They then conceded only one point while scoring six in a row to reach match point at 20-12, calmly securing the final point to seal the victory.
Seo and Kim will compete for the championship against the winner of the match between Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi (Japan, world No. 8) and Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Indonesia, world No. 2).
If the Korean pair reaches the top of the podium in this tournament, they will achieve a second consecutive Japan Open title.
Meanwhile, while world-leading women's singles player An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) returned home early for a medical checkup due to a foot injury after passing the round of 32, the women's doubles pair of Kim Hye-jeong (Samsung Life Insurance) and Kong Hee-yong (Jeonbuk Bank), ranked 6th in the world, reached the final to soothe the disappointment.
Kim and Kong defeated Hsu Yin-hui and Lin Jhih-yun of Taiwan (world No. 12) 2-0 in the semifinals to secure their place in the final.
Kim and Kong will face the world No. 2 pair, Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian of China, in the final.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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