Silver Lining: Jeong Jae-gun and Yoo Su-young Soar to Badminton Men’s Doubles Finals, Guaranteeing a Medal

The national badminton team for the disabled, Jae-gun Jeong (47, WH1, Ulsan Jung-gu Office) and Su-yeong Yoo (21, WH2, Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled), advanced to the men’s doubles final.

The pair of Jeong Jae-gun and Yoo Su-young easily defeated the pair of Takuni Matsumoto and Osamu Nagashima (Japan) with a set score of 2-0 (21-12, 21-12) in the semifinals of the men’s doubles (WH1·2 classes) badminton at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games held at Porte de la Chapelle in Paris, France on the 1st (Korean time). The pair of Jeong Jae-gun and Yoo Su-young, who secured the silver medal, will compete for the gold medal against the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic champions Mai Jianfeng and Qu Zimo (China) on the 2nd.

Jeong Jae-gun and Yoo Su-young secured first place in their group by defeating Matsumoto and Nagashima 2-0 in the group stage just 10 hours before the semifinals. The men’s doubles (WH1,2 grade) badminton is divided into 2 groups, A and B, with 4 teams playing group preliminaries, and the top 2 teams from each group play in the semifinals. At the Paris Paralympics, the opponents were decided by lottery. Coincidentally, two teams from the same group met in the semifinals.

The two players, who fully understood their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and even read the characteristics of the court perfectly, successfully advanced to the finals without any major crises. Yoo Su-young said, “We decided on which court we would attack first and what strategy we would use when changing courts.” He added, “We were lucky,” and “It was very fortunate to meet an opponent we had defeated once again.”

The pair of Choi Jeong-man and Kim Jeong-jun, who were aiming to advance to the semifinals together, were eliminated after suffering two losses the day before. In the final third match, they finished on a high note by defeating France with a set score of 2-1 (21-18, 13-21, 21-5). The pair of Choi Jeong-man and Kim Jeong-jun showed tremendous concentration and took the lead in the first set by 21-18. They lost the second set, but managed to shake off France’s pursuit and win.

Choi Jeong-man said after the match, “Since my elimination was confirmed, I went in with the thought of finishing on a high note,” and added, “I think things worked out well late, but I still feel a bit regretful that it was a little late.” He added, “I want to apologize to my partner (Kim Jeong-jun) and tell him that he worked hard.” Kim Jeong-jun said, “We worked hard together for three years, so it’s a little disappointing that it ended up like this,” but vowed, “I’ll focus on the remaining matches because I still have a fasting period.”

Kim Hyo-kyung (kaypubb@joongang.co.kr)