Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na Advance to Women's Doubles Final After Overcoming Team Event Slump: "We Want to Ease Our Guilt"

▲ Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na advancing to the final

The South Korean national badminton team's women's doubles duo Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na, who had bowed their heads due to a sluggish performance in the team event despite being counted as a "sure-win card," have completely regained their original form.

Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na defeated Japan's Kie Nakanishi and Rin Uesaka (world No. 7) 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) in the semifinals of the badminton women's doubles at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on September 28.

With this victory, Lee and Baek, the silver medalists of the 2022 Hangzhou Games, reached the Asian Games final for the second consecutive tournament.

Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone after the match, Lee So-hee said, "Our performance wasn't good during the team event and it brought the team atmosphere down, but as we play the individual matches one by one, our style of play is coming back, which I view positively."

She added, "My heart still feels heavy about not being able to bring home a win in the team event," resolving, "I want to play well in tomorrow's final match and ease the guilt I feel toward my fellow players, our coach, and our head coach."

Baek Ha-na also noted, "Today was really tough, but I think you have to suffer to win. Thanks to (So)-hee unnie covering well for me, I endured and ran until the end."

Determined and well-prepared on the court today, Lee and Baek kept a firm grip on the initiative throughout the match, save for a brief battle early on.

Baek's solid defense combined with Lee's high-point smashes pressured their opponents.

Their opponents in the final will be world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China.

The South Korean duo struggled against them with five consecutive losses, but they hold fond memories of defeating Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in the final of the World Championships—their most important stage recently—to secure the women's doubles title for the first time in 31 years.

Lee So-hee said, "At the last Hangzhou Games final, it was deeply disappointing to lose after leading against the Chinese pair," adding, "Tomorrow, I want to seize the initiative from the start just like today and achieve a good result."

This upcoming final is also linked to a historical milestone for South Korean badminton.

If Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na overcome China and climb to the top of the podium, South Korea will capture its first Asian Games women's doubles gold medal in 24 years, since Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won did so at the 2002 Busan Games.

Lee Kyung-won, the star behind that victory 24 years ago, is currently coaching the two players as the national team's women's doubles coach.

Lee So-hee smiled and said, "When we go to major competitions, there are many South Korean badminton records that have stayed frozen back in Coach Lee Kyung-won's era. Having already broken many of those records, we want to break this one as well at this Asian Games."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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