COPENHAGEN, September 22, 2023 - Korea secured three gold medals in the 2023 TotalEnergies BWF World Championships in Copenhagen Denmark. Its best ever performance in the history of the competition, with Seo Seung Jae scooping two titles - following in the footsteps of Korean legends, Park Joo Bong and Kim Dong Moon.
For once holding a tournament in its capital city – the usual Denmark Open is held in the city of Odense - the Scandinavians had hoped for a title at least on home soil. Especially with home hero Viktor Axelsen who has been dominating the circuit for over two years. Yet this was not meant to be as the title for men’s single went to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, three times world junior champion a few years ago and runner up of last year’s edition to… Axelsen. This time, the giant Dane bit the dust against India’s HS Prannoy in the quarter finals, while the young Thai, only 22, would take the title – for the first time ever for his country.
This was not the only historical fact in Copenhagen, as Korea created the biggest surprise by winning 3 of the 5 gold medals at stake. 21-year-old An Se Young was expected to deliver having enjoyed a stunning year so far and she did just that, in her usual style, full of energy and enthusiasm. She is the first Korean to win the women’s singles title. Her compatriot Seo Seung Jae claimed two titles, winning both the men’s double and mixed double with Kang Min-Hyuk and Chae Yu-Jung respectively. Seo’s incredible run matches those of two of Korea’s legendary players who had clinched two gold medals in two different categories of the same World Championships – Kim Dong Moon in 1999 and Park Joo Bong in 1985. With three gold medals, Korea laid down a marker and showed its ambition ahead of next year’s Paris Games. China claimed the fifth title in the name of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, who claimed their 3rd straight women’s doubles title and 4th all together.
The world of badminton is now back at its full speed with tournaments happening all around the world, including China, which had welcomed the Sudirman Cup earlier this year – the first event in over three years – and most recently the China Open Super 1000 held in Changzhou. The HSBC BWF World Tour finals have also switched destinations but remain within the country as Hangzhou – home of the 19th Asian Games – takes over Guangzhou as the host city for the next four years.
After the Asian Games, France and Denmark will welcome two of the next legs of the World Tour Calendar. The “Internationaux de France” will be held for the first time in the city of Rennes, in Britany, as the main venue for the Olympic Games is not ready to welcome the 2023 edition – it will be ready for the first Olympic test event to be held in March 2024.
Another good news is that events are welcoming more and more press as media centers are now back to what they were before Covid struck – if not more - full of young and less young reporters and photographers from all over the world.
