Badminton Women's Singles Kim Ga-eun, Narrow Defeat After 3-Set Battle... Fails to Advance to Quarterfinals [Paris Olympics]

1-2 Minutes Before Against World Ranking 8th Opponent

Badminton women's singles player Kim Ga-eun (26, Samsung Life) suffered a narrow defeat at the threshold of the quarterfinals.

Kim Ga-eun (26, Samsung Life Insurance) tasted defeat at the threshold of the women's singles quarterfinals.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

World No. 17 Kim Ga-eun lost 1-2 (4-21, 21-8, 21-23) to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Indonesia) in the round of 16 of the 2024 Paris Olympic badminton women's singles held on the 2nd (Korean time) at Porte de la Chapelle in Paris, France.

Kim Ga-eun advanced to the round of 16 as the top player in Group H after securing two wins in the group stage. She faced Tunjung, who topped Group G, in the round of 16.

Kim Ga-eun struggled in the first game against world No. 8 Tunjung. Tunjung maintained an aggressive offense and controlled the match. Kim Ga-eun repeatedly made unforced errors and failed to control her opponent's strokes and smashes, resulting in a 4-21 loss within 11 minutes, conceding the first game.

In the second game, Kim Ga-eun regained her focus and unsettled Tunjung with precise drives and exquisite hairpin shots. Through active net play, she tightly suppressed Tunjung’s specialty, the smash, and swept four consecutive points. Tunjung was shaken by Kim Ga-eun’s game management, and the score gap quickly widened from the start. Just like the first set was overturned, Kim Ga-eun won this set 21-8 by a large margin, leveling the score.

The third set was a close contest from the beginning. Both players showed high concentration in a fierce battle. Trailing 13-14, Kim Ga-eun took control by hitting a deep smash that disrupted Tunjung’s balance and tied the score. At 15-15, Tunjung’s ordinary push shot went out of bounds, giving Kim Ga-eun the lead, but Kim Ga-eun then faced a match point at 19-20. She tenaciously held on and pushed the match into deuce.

However, at the match point of 21-22, Kim Ga-eun’s attempted return went out of bounds, ultimately losing the set 21-23 and concluding the match with Tunjung’s victory.