Korean badminton players Choi Sol-gyu (Yonex) and Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life Insurance) made a comeback smash at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
What stood out the most on the third day of the badminton individual competition held at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China on the 4th was the men’s doubles round of 16, where they defeated the world’s second-ranked champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang (China) in a close match, 2-1 (21-10 18- It was Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, ranked 15th in the world, who defeated them 21 23-21).
He recorded his first win with a thrilling upset over an opponent who had lost all three matches.
Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, who took the lead by scoring 10 consecutive points in the first half and won the first game 21-10, seemed to have won the second game by 15-12.
However, the team lost momentum by allowing five points at 18-16. Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, who were in deep defeat after being dragged down to 13-19 in the third game, did not give up and continued to chase until the end.
As the score gap narrowed, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang became impatient and committed mistakes one after another, and Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho scored five consecutive points to close the gap at 18-19. 스포츠토토
Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho gave up match points first, but they tenaciously took two points to make it 20-20 deuce, and eventually won two points at 21-21, silencing the cheers of the Chinese fans.
In fact, Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho had to go through ups and downs. He was the double horse of the Korean men’s doubles team with Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk (hereinafter referred to as Samsung Life Insurance)
but he failed to achieve much success after defeating Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk to win the German Open this year.
Although he won bronze medals at the Thailand Open and Singapore Open in June, he was eliminated early in the round of 32 or round of 16 in the remaining tournaments.
After Choi Sol-gyu was discharged from the military last June, Kim Won-ho suffered an injury and was unable to compete for a while.
Meanwhile, the world ranking, which was 9th, fell to 15th.
On the other hand, good colleagues and rivals Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk rose by winning the Malaysia Masters in May and the Australian Open and World Championships in August, raising their world ranking from 12th to 4th.
In particular, Choi Sol-gyu suffered quite a bit.
This is because he had to watch his doubles partner, Kim Won-ho, play with Na Seong-seung (Gimcheon City Hall) as a sure-win card targeting the Asian Games team event.
Kim Won-ho and Na Seong-seung continued their outstanding performance, showing off their destructive power by repeatedly defeating the world’s top ranked players in the Asian Mixed Team Championships, the World Mixed Team Championships, and in the men’s team event of this tournament.
The revival of Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho is expected to be a great boost to Korean badminton.
In order for two men’s doubles groups to participate in next year’s Paris Olympics, both groups must be in the top 8.
In the current situation, Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho need to work harder.
Choi Sol-gyu, who succeeded in the match point and roared fiercely with Kim Won-ho, said, “I think we were able to come from behind to win because we did our best without giving up until the end,” and added, “I will maintain concentration so that we can continue the good atmosphere in the next game.
said.
Kim Won-ho added, “In the past, I played a lot of games avoiding my opponent because I was afraid, but today, I think it worked out well because I went in with the mindset of ‘let’s fight even if I lose.’”
Women’s singles world No. 1 Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance) also easily defeated world No. 205 Abdul Razak Fatimas Navaha (Maldives) 2-0 (21-4 21-6) in 21 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
World No. 4 Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jeong (Incheon International Airport), who dominated the World Championships and China Open, defeated their formidable opponent, No. 5 Dechapol Puavaranukro and Sapsiri Taerattanacha (Thailand) 2-0.
They defeated the team with a score of (21-13 21-11) and announced their prospects for a medal.
Women’s doubles world No. 3 Kim So-young and Kong Hee-yong faced No. 17 Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (India) and won the first game 21-15, but lost the second game 18-21, forcing them to play three games.
However, they won the last game 21-13 and secured a ticket to the quarterfinals.
However, Kim So-young, who was recovering from her recent injury, was given treatment by her medical staff during the match, possibly due to strain on her ankle, raising concerns.