Kim Won-ho / Seo Seung-jae
- Ranking
- No. 1
- Nation
- KOR
- Born
- 1999 / 1997
- Titles listed
- 8
Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae are world No. 1 on the BWF list of 27 October 2026, with a clear lead over Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. They have held the top spot since 22 July 2025, won the 2025 World Championships in Paris and the 2025 World Tour Finals, and started 2026 with both Super 1000s in the first quarter, the Malaysia Open and the All England. The second half of the year has been harder.
Who they are
Seo Seung-jae, born 4 September 1997 in Buan, is left-handed and one of the few players to have won two world titles in the same week: men’s doubles with Kang Min-hyuk and mixed doubles with Chae Yoo-jung at Copenhagen 2023. He also won the 2023 World Tour Finals with Kang.
Kim Won-ho, born 2 June 1999 in Suwon, is right-handed and comes from a badminton family: his mother Gil Young-ah is an Olympic gold medallist. Before this partnership settled he was a top-ten men’s doubles player with Choi Sol-gyu and a top-three mixed doubles player with Jeong Na-eun, with whom he won Olympic silver at Paris 2024.
The partnership was re-formed full-time after the Paris Olympics, where Kim played mixed doubles. Within a year of that they were world champions and world No. 1.
How they play
A left-hander and a right-hander is the combination doubles coaches like best, and this pair shows why. When both are at the back, each has a forehand covering the corner the other finds awkward, so the opponents have no natural “backhand side” to lift into. When they are front and back, Kim’s speed at the net and Seo’s angles from the rear court cover each other.
What a club player should watch is their serve and third shot. Korean men’s doubles has traditionally been built on flat, fast exchanges rather than steep smashing, and Kim and Seo fit the tradition: the low serve is tight, the return is pushed flat to the midcourt, and the first attacking shot is usually a drive or a half-smash aimed at the body rather than a full smash to the sideline. They win by making the rally quick and then being quicker than the other pair.
The pair that has had their number in 2026 is Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, who beat them in the Japan Open and China Open finals in consecutive weeks in July. Both pairs want to attack; in those two finals the Indonesians got to do it more often.
2026 so far
- Malaysia Open, Kuala Lumpur, 6 to 11 January (Super 1000): champions, beating Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-15, 12-21, 21-18.
- India Open (January): withdrew because of a shoulder injury to Seo.
- All England Open, Birmingham, 3 to 8 March (Super 1000): champions, beating Chia and Soh again 18-21, 21-12, 21-19. Their second All England in a row.
- Asian Championships, Ningbo (April): gold, beating compatriots Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju 21-13, 21-17.
- Japan Open, Tokyo, 14 to 19 July (Super 750): final, lost to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 19-21, 17-21.
- China Open, Changzhou, 21 to 26 July (Super 1000): final, lost to Alfian and Fikri 21-16, 19-21, 19-21.
- World Championships, New Delhi, 17 to 23 August: bronze, losing the semi-final to Chia and Soh 17-21, 18-21.
- Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya (September): bronze, losing the semi-final to Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin 11-21, 14-21.
Seven finals or semi-finals at the biggest events, three titles, and no title since April.
Titles
| Title | Level | Year |
|---|---|---|
| All England Open | Super 1000 | 2026 |
| Malaysia Open | Super 1000 | 2026 |
| Asian Championships | Continental | 2026 |
| World Championships | World | 2025 |
| BWF World Tour Finals | Finals | 2025 |
| Indonesia Open | Super 1000 | 2025 |
| All England Open | Super 1000 | 2025 |
| Malaysia Open | Super 1000 | 2025 |
Medals as a pair: World Championships bronze (2026), Asian Games bronze (2026). Individually: Seo has two 2023 world titles and a 2023 World Tour Finals title with other partners; Kim has Olympic mixed doubles silver (2024).
What to watch for
Their lead makes year-end No. 1 very likely. The question is the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in December, where they defend the title and where Alfian and Fikri, who have beaten them in their last two finals, will be in the same eight-pair field. Watch whether Korea changes the third-shot pattern against Indonesia’s early attack, or simply tries to be faster.
If your club has a left-hander who plays doubles, ask them to partner you, and put each forehand on the corner the other dislikes.