Source:REUTERS/Issei Kato
[Saba Sports News] An unexpected defeat in the first round of the French Open became the endpoint of a legend. Korean mixed doubles star Chae Yoo-jung and her partner Lee Jong-min lost to Alexander Dunn and Julie MacPherson 21-14, 12-21, 16-21, suffering a first-round exit. Following the match, this top player, who once reached the pinnacle of the World Championships, suddenly announced on social media the official end of her 15-year national team career, stunning the badminton world. As one of the iconic figures in badminton mixed doubles, Chae Yoo-jung’s career has been illustrious. Her partnership with Seo Seung-jae was the strongest rival to China’s top mixed pair, Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong. The two pairs faced off in the final of the 2023 World Championships, where Chae Yoo-jung and Seo Seung-jae ultimately won with an outstanding performance, claiming the mixed doubles title, which became the most glorious medal of her career. However, after Seo Seung-jae shifted his focus to men’s doubles, Chae Yoo-jung’s results with her new, younger partner Lee Jong-min consistently fell short of expectations, foreshadowing her retirement. In her retirement statement, Chae Yoo-jung candidly shared her internal struggles: “Since the beginning of this year, I have been thinking about retirement. Because there is no separate national team selection process for mixed doubles, I had to participate in the selection as a women’s doubles player. But having long focused on mixed doubles, I lost the confidence to start from scratch.”