Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho Chase First Asian Games Gold Together as South Korea’s Top Pair Refocuses
JINCHEON, South Korea — South Korea’s world No. 1 men’s doubles team, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, is heading toward the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a clear ambition: win their first Asian Games gold medal together.
Yet despite their status as the world’s top-ranked men’s doubles pair, the Koreans are deliberately keeping their attention away from the finish line.
For Seo and Kim, the immediate objective is not the gold medal itself.
It is the process of getting there.
From dominant 2025 to a tougher 2026
The pair enters the Asian Games after experiencing a significant change in momentum.
Seo and Kim combined for an extraordinary 11 titles in 2025, tying the record for the most titles won by a doubles team in a single season. Their performances established them as one of the most formidable combinations in men's badminton.
Their 2026 campaign, however, has been considerably quieter.
The pair has not won a tournament since the Asian Championships in April, a lengthy drought by the standards they established during their dominant previous season.
That has made the upcoming Asian Games an important opportunity to rediscover their best form on home soil.
The Asian Games goal is personal
Seo and Kim have already achieved major success together, but an Asian Games gold medal remains one of the significant prizes missing from their partnership.
That makes the Aichi-Nagoya Games particularly important.
Rather than allowing the pressure of the target to dictate their preparation, the pair is concentrating on the smaller elements of competition—training, communication, tactical execution and maintaining composure during matches.
The approach is straightforward: control what they can control and let the results follow.
World No. 1 status brings its own pressure
Being ranked No. 1 means Seo and Kim will enter the Asian Games among the teams expected to challenge for the title.
That status can bring additional pressure, particularly in a tournament where Asian badminton's strongest nations are competing for medals.
China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and other major badminton powers routinely produce elite doubles teams, making the men's doubles draw one of the most competitive events on the Asian Games program.
Seo and Kim therefore know that reputation alone will not be enough.
Their recent results have reinforced the importance of returning to the fundamentals that helped make them the world's leading pair.
Their biggest weapon may be their experience
Seo and Kim's partnership has developed into one of the strongest combinations in international men's doubles.
Seo brings extensive experience at the highest level, while Kim has established himself as an elite doubles player with the ability to handle major-match pressure.
Their success has also demonstrated how quickly a doubles partnership can evolve when both players understand each other's strengths and weaknesses.
That chemistry could become particularly important at the Asian Games, where a single difficult match can change the direction of a tournament.
South Korea wants another badminton breakthrough
The pair's campaign comes at a significant moment for South Korean badminton.
The country has a proud history in the sport, and its doubles players have regularly challenged for major international titles.
At the 2026 World Championships in August, South Korea's Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na won the women's doubles title, defeating China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in the final. It was South Korea's first women's doubles world title since 1995.
That success has added momentum to South Korea's badminton program heading into the Asian Games.
The road to gold won't be simple
The men's doubles field will be packed with world-class competition.
Asian badminton remains the deepest talent pool in the sport, with China's, Indonesia's, Malaysia's, Japan's and South Korea's leading pairs capable of challenging for the title.
That is why Seo and Kim are resisting the temptation to look too far ahead.
The world ranking may make them favorites on paper, but the Asian Games will ultimately be decided on the court.
Every rally, every tactical adjustment and every pressure point will matter.
One target, one partnership, one more major prize
Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho have already built an impressive résumé together.
They have reached the top of the world rankings, accumulated major titles and established themselves as one of badminton's most recognizable men's doubles partnerships.
Now they want something they have yet to accomplish together: Asian Games gold.
But their message heading into the tournament is remarkably measured.
They are not treating the medal as something that can simply be claimed because of their ranking.
Instead, they are focusing on the work required to earn it.
And that could be the most important part of their campaign.
Because for the world's No. 1 pair, the road to Asian Games gold begins by forgetting about the gold—and concentrating on the next point.