Asian Games: South Korean women’s badminton team wins 1st gold medal in 30 years
By Bryan Ke
South Korea’s women’s badminton team took home the gold medal after defeating China 3-0 at the 19th Asian Games on Sunday, the first time they’ve won the top medal for women’s badminton in almost 30 years.
Key details: South Korea won three games against China on Sunday, with An Seyoung and Kim Gaeun winning the singles matches in women’s badminton and Lee Sohee and Baek Hana besting the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s pair in the sport, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, at the 19th Asian Games in Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
Their individual scores: The team won their matches flawlessly, with An coming out of the game against Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Chen Yufei with a final score of 2-0, followed by the duo Lee and Baek with another 2-0.
Kim secured South Korea’s gold medal win after defeating He Bing Jiao, the No. 5-ranked women’s singles badminton player in the world, 3-0.
How they reacted: South Korea’s badminton coach Kim Hak-kyun praised the team as a whole for their achievement, which he attributed to the players’ “determination, mindset, mentality and unity.”
“The biggest meaning is that we can show everyone — our athletes as a whole team — and not just An Seyoung,” Coach Kim added.
First win in decades: South Korea last won a gold medal in women’s badminton in 1994 after the country beat Indonesia at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. Since then, the country had only silver medals at the 1998, 2002 and 2014 Asian Games, during which China won gold medals.
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