Who exactly will partner with who is the current doubt of all Korean badminton men's doubles players. After the Korean Badminton Association suffered a major earthquake last year and the national team head coach Kim Hak-gyun was fired, the rest of the coaches also left, including men's doubles coach Han Dong-sung. This also made the Korean Badminton Association face a lot of uncertainty, and it also implicated the players.

Seo Seung-jae (left) and Kim Won-ho teamed up again for the first time in five years to win the Malaysia Open

After the Paris Olympics, South Korea's Men's Doubles World Champion Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk continued to compete in four tournaments, three of which ended in the final, where they won the Hong Kong Super 500 and finished second in the Japan Super 750 and Korea Super 500.

After Kang Min Hyuk had to serve in the military, Seo Seung-jae first partnered with Ki Dong-joo, and they reached the semi-finals of the Korea Super 300 Event, and then Seo Seung-jae changed partners to Sung Jin-ryong, and the two competed in the Kumamoto Super 500 and China Super 750 Tournaments, and finally won the championship in China.

Coming to the first event of the year, the Malaysia Super 1000 (Malaysia Open), Seo Seung-jae's partner was changed to Kim Won-ho. Kang Min Hyuk, who is still serving in the military but is allowed to continue competing, has partnered with Jin-ryong, and the Korean men's doubles has been "changing cards" every time he participates since November last year.

It is reported that the Korean Badminton Association is doing this to pair the most promising combination for gold in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Seo Seung Jae and Kim Won Ho won their first event after a five-year absence, beating Chinese up-and-comers Tan Pak Yang and Liu Yi in the final of the Malaysia Open.

In an interview with the media after the match, when asked when the Korean men's doubles pair would decide on a permanent partner, Seo Seung-jae responded: "I don't know." He also revealed that he will continue to partner Kim Won-ho in the Indian Super 750 this week, but will partner Jinlong in the Indonesian Super 500 next week. Therefore, not only the fans are confused, but even the Korean men's doubles themselves are confused.

Seo Seung-jae (right) and Kang Min-hyuk could still pair up again to defend their Men's Doubles title at this year's World Championships

The only thing Seo Seung-jae knows is that "the Korean Badminton Association is currently testing the combination of different potential new combinations, and this trial is expected to end at the end of this month." The future arrangements have not yet been decided, and the specific partners in the future will be decided by the coach. However, Seo Seung-jae does not know who will be the new coach or when the new coach will take office. We weren't sure about our future partners because we didn't know who the new coach would be. But whether it's with Kim Won-ho or Jin-ryong, they're all very good players, and that's why I was able to win the championship with them. ”

Seo Seung-jae also said that he could also re-partner with Kang Min-hyuk, a pair that will become world champions in 2023 and win five World Tour titles and one World Tour Finals together. Seo Seung-jae said that if he ends up re-partnering with Kang Min-hyuk, they will try their best to defend their title at the Badminton World Championships in Paris at the end of August, but if they partner with other team-mates, he will compete as a challenger and see everything as a new beginning.

In addition, in addition to partnering Kang Min-hyuk to win the men's doubles title at the World Championships two years ago, Seo Seung-jae also partnered with Choi Yoo-hyun to win the mixed doubles title, and will focus more on men's doubles in the future. Seo Seung-jae, who has been competing in the mixed doubles event, said: "I actually prefer to focus on the men's doubles event, and I will reduce the number of mixed doubles competitions in the future." As a result, Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho won the Malaysia Open, their first Super 1000 title as men's doubles, but this week's India Open could also be their last time teaming up.