Badminton Seo Seungjae-Kang Minhyuk Eliminated in Quarterfinals...Regrettable Comeback Loss in 2nd Game [Paris Olympics]

South Korean badminton men's doubles players Seo Seung-jae (26, Samsung Life) and Kang Min-hyuk (25, Samsung Life) failed to advance past the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Ranked 4th in the world, Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk lost 0-2 (19-21, 20-22) to the world number 2 pair Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the men's doubles quarterfinals held on the 1st at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

As their head-to-head record of 1 win and 1 loss suggests, the match was closely contested. Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk fell behind by as many as 6 points early in the first game but regained their form to tie the score at 14-14. A tense back-and-forth battle continued, with the score tied at 19-19.

At this point, Kang Min-hyuk's clear shot fell beyond the end line, putting them at risk of losing the game point, and they eventually lost the first game after being outplayed in the subsequent drive exchanges.

The second game remained extremely close, with the score difference never exceeding two points until the mid-to-late stages. Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk reached 20 points with a two-point lead, seemingly poised to even the match, but after allowing a deuce and committing an unforced error, they were defeated.