The South Korean badminton team is getting a bit of an early start before the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
The team has a busy schedule ahead of the Asian Games, including the World Individual Championships from Nov. 21-27 and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 China Open from Nov. 5-10.
These are the last major events for the national team as they look to improve on the ‘no-medal’ performance at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang.
The World Individual Championships is an important event in its own right.
It was first held in 1977 and is the most prestigious international tournament for five individual events (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles).
“We’ve made good progress toward our biggest goals, the Asian Games and the Olympics,” said Kim Hak-gyun, the team’s head coach, at a media day at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, on Saturday. “With our current pace, I think we can perform well enough to meet our expectations.”
“If we do well in the team events first, the individual events will automatically follow,” Kim said, predicting medals in all seven events at the Asian Games.
There are seven gold medals up for grabs at the Asian Games: men’s and women’s team events (two), men’s and women’s singles (two), men’s and women’s doubles (two), and mixed doubles (one).
Kim’s confidence is not “unfounded.
Last month, South Korea was ranked second in the BWF’s quarterly team rankings, thanks to the performances of women’s singles standout Ahn Se-young and women’s doubles duo Kim So-young-Gong Hee-yong and Lee So-hee-Baek Hana.
This is the first time in about five years and three months that Korea has regained the No. 2 spot, having last finished second in the April 2018 rankings and fallen as low as No. 7 at one point. The No. 1 team is China.
South Korea won seven gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals in seven BWF World Tour events at the 1000 and 750 levels this year.
The individual coaches are also determined.
“Yamaguchi (Japan) has good speed, Chen Yuefei (China) has good stamina and offensive play, and Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei) is aggressive,” said Women’s Singles Coach Sung Ji-hyun, comparing the “big four” in women’s singles, adding, “I think (Ahn) Se-young is trying to keep her original play and add more defensive or aggressive play (depending on the opponent).
“Our goal is to have a final between our players at the Olympics and Asian Games,” said women’s doubles coach Lee Kyung-won, adding that Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong use every inch of the court well, while Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na practice quick offensive transitions while maintaining good defense.
Men’s doubles coach Han Dong-sung said, “It seems like the men’s team is not living up to expectations as much as the women’s team, but they are doing as well as they did when Lee Yong-dae was there, so we ask for a lot of expectations and support.”
The players competing in the World Individual Championships will continue to fly to Hangzhou.
World No. 1 Ahn Se-young and Kim Ga-eun will compete in the women’s singles, 카지노사이트킴< while world No. 3 Kim So-young-Gong Hee-yong and world No. 4 Lee So-hee-Baek Hana will compete in the women’s doubles.
Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yoo-jung and Kim Won-ho-Jung Nae-eun will compete in the mixed doubles, while Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae-Kang Min-hyuk will compete in the men’s doubles.
Jeon Hyuk-jin will compete in the men’s singles, while Lee Yoon-kyu will also be representing Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games.