Seo Seung-jae/Kang Min-hyuk expected to start the Korean Men's Doubles 2.0 era?
Kang Min-hyuk
South Korean badminton has had an extravagant golden generation of men's doubles: Lee Yong-dae, Yoo Yeon-sung, Kim Ki-jong, Kim Sa Lang, Ko Sung-hyun and Shin Baek-chul, who have long been ranked in the top five in the world and dominated the Rio Olympic cycle. But unfortunately, they all seem to have difficulty breaking through the psychological barrier of the competition, the most prominent result is the gold medal of the 2014 World Championships of Ko Sung-hyun/Shin Baek-cheol, and the most important title is the gold medal of the 2014 BWF World Finals of Lee Yong-dae/Yoo Yeon-sung.
After experiencing a low point in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, Seo Seung-jae/Kang Min-hyuk broke the psychological curse of the Korean men's doubles competition, and the pair won two heavy gold medals at the World Championships and the finals in just over a year.
At the age of 5, he became involved in badminton because of his hobby
Compared with the star-studded star of concurrently king Seo Seung-jae, Kang Min-hyuk, who was born in 1999, is not well-known to fans. It is understood that Kang Min Hyuk's parents are amateur badminton enthusiasts, and Kang Min Hyuk has followed his parents to play wild ball in the badminton club since he was 5 years old, and he fell in love with badminton. When he was in the second grade of elementary school, Kang Min-hyuk expressed to his parents his dream of taking a career path in badminton, and later he transferred to a specialized sports technical school, specializing in badminton, and because of his good grades, he was selected for the Korean national badminton team in his second year of high school.
Seo Seung-jae/Kang Min-hyuk won the gold medal in the 2023 finals
In the early days of his debut, Kang Min-hyuk partnered with Kim Won-ho and Kim Jae-hwan of the same age, and the results were not satisfactory due to the epidemic. As the 2022 season began to enter the Olympic points competition, the tepid Seo Seung-jae/Seo Su-gyu were dismantled, and Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae gradually formed a fixed partnership to challenge for Olympic qualification.
On days when there are no competitions, Kang Min Hyuk stays at the Jincheon Athletes' Village to train, "I wake up at 5:40 every morning, work out on the playground with other athletes from 6 to 7 a.m., and then do running or strength training. Badminton training is generally arranged in the morning and afternoon, each for 3 hours, and in the evening is the player's personal time. Usually after training, I wash in the sauna to get rid of the fatigue of the day. ”
Men's Doubles Final
BWF World Finals 2023
Seo Seung-jae
Kang Min-hyuk
VS
Leung Wai Hang
Wang Chang
Kang Min Hyuk does not find such days boring, on the contrary, he feels that he lives for the goal, moves forward every day, and when the psychological pressure is greater, he will choose to read the Bible before going to bed, "Mark Chapter 10 has given me a lot of strength to let go of my desires, focus on my goals with a peaceful mind, and do my best to achieve them." ”
After winning the gold medal at the World Championships, it was a little floating
Due to the badminton points of the Paris Olympics, the sum of the points of the 10 highest tournaments is taken. Seo Seung-jae/Kang Min-hyuk participated in 26 international tournaments throughout the 2023 season, won 4 championships and 1 runner-up, reached the semifinals 6 times, and helped the Korean team win the men's doubles gold medal at the World Championships and finals for the first time in 9 years.
Talking about the 2-0 win over Leung Wei Keng/Wang Chang in the 2023 Hangzhou finals at the end of last month, Kang Min Hyuk said that the Chinese pair had advantages and pressures at home, and we showed good competitive form with a relaxed mentality. After 17 draws in the first game, the Liangwang combination made mistakes one after another and lost 4 points, and in the second game, the Liangwang combination got the game point 20-16 but was afraid on the offensive end, which also made Seo Seungjae/Kang Minhyuk win the championship with a wave of 6-0 and 22-20.
Kang Min Hyuk said that the most difficult time of the 2023 season was after winning the World Championships, "The 2023 World Championships was not very lucky, and I didn't have a lot of expectations for the competition, but after winning the championship, my mentality drifted unconsciously. I continued to be in a slump in the rest of the race, and my mood was back and forth, happy and sad, and I felt stupid. Actually, the most important thing is to stay true to my original intention, and now I just want to focus on my daily training. After a tough time, it's nice to win the year-end finals, but that doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to sustain that form. Kang Min Hyuk smiled and expressed his inner thoughts, he is very calm, and the ultimate goal is only the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Looking ahead to the 2024 season, Kang Min Hyuk said, "Whether it is playing badminton or doing other things, there are times when you do well, there are times when you don't do well, there are times when things go well, and there are times when things are difficult. Even in the face of failures and setbacks, I hope I can have the courage to keep going. ”