"World's Strongest" Badminton Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae are in the final again! A thrilling twist... My first win of the season

*This content was translated by AI.

It is the dignity of the world's strongest doubles team, which won 11 gold medals last season. Seo Seung-jae (Samsung Life Insurance) and Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life Insurance), the world No. 1 badminton men's doubles player, advanced to the final of the first tournament of the 2026 season and started to win.

Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho came from behind to win 2-1 (8-21 21-11 21-18) over England's Ben Lane-Shaun Bendy (16th) in the men's doubles semifinals of the 2026 BWF Malaysia Open at Asiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 10th (Korea time).

The process to advance to the finals was not smooth. Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho gave up the lead from the beginning of the first game, falling sharply to 3-10, and started nervously by losing 8-21 without narrowing the gap.

From the second game, he showed his world No. 1 potential. Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho brought the mood to a close game of 6-5 with five points down, and they scored four consecutive points at 17-11, bringing the game to square one 21-11.

The three games of fate were a close game. Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, who were dragged to 1-5 in the beginning, did not give up and started chasing by accumulating points one by one. The game was decided at the end of the game. With the score trailing 14-15, he turned the tide by winning a decisive three consecutive points, and calmly finished the game in a 20-18 match point situation, enjoying the joy of victory.

Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho are the strongest doubles groups that set a milestone in badminton history last season. In December last year, he won his 11th title of the season by beating world No. 7 Liang Wei-keng and Wang Chang of China 2-0 (21-18 21-14) in the BWF World Tour Finals, a match between Wang and Wang.

In the 2025 season, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho were named the most winning doubles group in a single season, along with Lee Yong-bo-Tianbing, Geopei-Gujun, and Wiyang-Wang Xiaoli. Last year ▲Malaysia Open ▲ German Open (Super 300) ▲ Jeon Young Open (Super 1000) ▲ Indonesia Open ▲ Japanese Open ▲ World Individual Badminton Championship ▲ Chinese Masters ▲ Korea Open (Super 500) ▲ French Open ▲ Japanese Masters (Super 500) and the Final, and had the best year with Ahn Se-young in women's singles.

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*This content was translated by AI.