“But I gave it my all without regret”
South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae (27) finished the Paris Olympics without a medal. It was the biggest upset of the Games after Chinese Taipei’s No. 3 Tai Tzu-ying was eliminated in the women’s singles group stage.
Seo Seung-jae, the world No. 2 mixed doubles player with Chae Yoo-jung (29), lost 0-2 (13-21 20-22) to world No. 5 Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino (JPN) in the mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France, on Sunday.
Seo is South Korea’s leading doubles player and was named the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Male Player of the Year at the end of last year. A rare doubles player to be named Male Athlete of the Year, which is usually reserved for singles players, Seo is a strong gold medal favorite at the Games, along with Ahn Se-young, who was named in the women’s category.
With Kang Min-hyuk, Seo Seung-jae plays men’s doubles and mixed doubles with Chae Yoo-jung. They are ranked No. 4 in the men’s doubles and No. 2 in the mixed doubles, making them one of the strongest teams in the world. They were the favorites to win the gold medal if they could overcome the top-ranked Chinese team, but they finished the tournament empty-handed.
The team had to play two matches a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, since the start of the tournament to stay in contention for a medal. They cruised through the group stage and won seven straight matches, but lost in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles in the morning and in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles in the afternoon.
They still had a chance at a bronze medal in the mixed doubles, but the Japanese pair suffered a series of unforced errors early in the day and never recovered. Seo, who had been playing two sports in a few short days, looked exhausted after a long rally late in the match.
In game one, Seo was down 10-14 after a long rally to save 파워볼사이트 the point, but he failed to capitalize on the momentum and dropped the first game in 19 minutes after a series of unforced errors, 13-20.
Game two was a close one. After an early tiebreak to make it 13-13, it was a tightly contested affair, with two points down at 18-18. After a long rally and conceding match point, Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jung tied the score again at 20-20 after a net error and Seo’s corner attack, but they were unable to capitalize on their opponent’s final attack at 20-21 and lost the bronze medal.
After finishing in the quarterfinals at Tokyo 2020, Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung finished fourth at Paris 2024.
“We did the best we could,” said Seo Seung-jae, who entered the mix zone with a confused look on his face after the match, “but we did the best we could. It’s unfortunate that the result turned out like this, but we have no regrets about our second Olympics. I would be lying if I said it didn’t affect me physically, but it was the path I chose and I did my best. I apologize to those who had high expectations.”
Seo Seung-jae played mixed doubles with Chae Yoo-jung for six years. It’s unknown if they’ll play together again at the Olympics in four years. They encouraged each other, saying, “Good job.”
Seo Seung-jae said, “I’m sorry that we didn’t win, because I’ve been grateful to her for six years. But I did everything I could. Life is not the end, so I hope we can prepare well and do well together in the future.”
Chae Yoo-jung said, “Everyone is eager to compete in the Olympics, and we were eager to compete. We did our best while leading and squeezing a body that couldn’t do it, so I’m sure I’ll be disappointed again in the future, but right now, I can only think about how hard it is.” “I thought it was my last Olympics with Seung-jae. I wanted to give him a medal, whether it was gold or bronze, but I’m sorry I couldn’t, and I’m upset because I should have led him more as his sister, but I relied on him too much, not like a sister, and I’m very sorry for him. Thank you,” she said.