World No. 1 Badminton Duo Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho Aiming for Gold at Asian Games

South Korea's leading badminton men's doubles duo, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, who swept the global stage with an unstoppable momentum following their partnership formation, are facing their first growing pains.

As absolute powerhouses who climbed to world No. 1 just seven months after pairing up and have maintained the top spot for 61 consecutive weeks, they have recently encountered a temporary brake in their surging momentum as they became the prime target of intense vigilance.

The Korean pair wrote a new chapter in badminton history last year by lifting 11 championship trophies—tying the record for the most wins in a single season alongside women's singles undisputed leader An Se-young—but recently failed to secure a title across six consecutive tournaments.

However, the doubles pair, having taken a breather, are fully equipped to stage their resurgence at this Asian Games.

The Korean duo competed as the second doubles pair in their first-round match against Hong Kong in the men's team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held today at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, comfortably defeating Tang Kai Fung and Hung Kuei Chun 2-0 (21-9, 21-10) in just 31 minutes.

Seo said, "During the period when we couldn't win, we tried many different things here and there. This Asian Games will be our first tournament entering with our style firmly solidified through those various trials."

He added, "As we have developed faith in our own game, we think we will be able to approach this with more confidence, so we are also looking forward to it."

Kim Won-ho also emphasized, "We have prepared by focusing on finding our confidence inside the court first. While focusing only on our shortcomings previously led to some passive plays on a few occasions, this tournament will be different."

Although they are experiencing a recent "championship drought," their standing remains overwhelming.

The ranking point gap with world No. 2 Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri of Indonesia reaches 19,646 points.

Although they suffered a setback against world No. 58 Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Martin of Indonesia in the round of 32 at the previous tournament, they have consistently stood on the podium by harvesting two silver medals and three bronze medals in the five tournaments they have participated in since the Asian Championships.

The two players accepted these growing pains as a stepping stone on their path toward the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics.

Expressing his confidence, Kim Won-ho said, "I think these are twists and turns we had to experience at some point to get to LA. Rather, experiencing them early on has allowed us to solidify our game further."

In their first joint appearance at the Asian Games since forming their partnership, their goal is exclusively the gold medal.

Since neither has yet worn an Asian Games gold medal, their resolve to bring honor while wearing the Taegeuk mark is fierce.

Seo stated, "Winning a gold medal at a multi-sport event is a clear motivation as a national athlete because it is an opportunity to have the national anthem play from the highest spot on the podium and make Korea known once more."

A special title is particularly on the line for Kim Won-ho.

His mother, coach Gil Young-ah of Samsung Life Insurance, is a legend who won a total of seven medals across the Asian Games and Olympics, including a gold medal in the team event at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and a gold medal in mixed doubles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Kim Won-ho, who teamed up with Choi Sol-gyu to win a men's doubles silver medal at the previous Hangzhou Games, will seize the meaningful title of a "mother-son gold medalist" if he wins this tournament.

However, demonstrating firm determination, Kim Won-ho said, "Putting aside such meaning, we always run with the goal of winning a gold medal, so we will do our absolute best until the end."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.