At the previous Asian Games in 2018, South Korea was shut out of medals in badminton, the first time the country failed to win any medal in the sport in 40 years.
With this year's Asian Games about a month away in China, South Korea looks poised not only to avoid the similar humiliation, but to compete with the best of the continent for multiple medals.
At the national team media day Wednesday, head coach Kim Hak-kyun said South Korea's goal is to win a medal in all seven disciplines: men's singles, doubles and team, women's singles, doubles and team, and mixed doubles.
"At this pace, I believe we should be able to meet expectations and come away with great results," Kim told reporters at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province. "If we do well in the team events early on in the competition, then we'll be set up nicely for the individual matches to follow."
Asia boasts some of the very best shuttlers in the world. All top-10 teams in the men's doubles and women's doubles in the world rankings are from Asia. Nine out of the top-10 male players and eight out of the top-10 female players hail from the continent, too.
South Korea is firmly in that mix. An Se-young is world No. 1 in the women's singles. In the women's doubles, Baek Hana and Lee So-hee are No. 2, followed by Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong at No. 3. The country has a player or a team in the top 10 in every individual discipline.
An will be a gold medal favorite in the women's singles, though she will have to contend with the four players right below her in the world rankings who all come from Asia.
Sung Ji-hyun, coach for the women's singles, said each of An's rivals, notably Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Chen Yufei of China and Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, brings different elements to the court.
"Yamaguchi is really fast. Chen Yufei is a durable player who can play well at both ends. Tai Tzu Ying is an aggressive player," Sung said. "Se-young will try to stick to her game but also make some adjustments depending on her opponents, either playing more conservatively or more aggressively."
Lee Kyung-won, who coaches the women's doubles teams, said she would love to see her two tandems face each other in the final of the Asian Games, and also the Olympics next year in Paris.
"Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong are working on using every part of the court," Lee said. "Lee So-hee and Baek Hana are both strong defensive players, and they are trying to be faster in their transition to offense."
Before the Asian Games, the badminton team will travel to Copenhagen for the world championships starting Monday. The Asian Games open on Sept. 23, and the first badminton matches will be played Sept. 28.
Source: Yonhap News Agency