'World No.10' Badminton National Team Player Fails Selection? ... Allegations of 'Unfair Selection' Raised

Jeong Gyeong-eun (left). Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Nahana] Jeong Gyeong-eun (31, Gimcheon City Hall), a former national badminton player, posted on the Blue House National Petition board, claiming there were suspicious aspects in the 2021 national team selection process.

On the 29th, a post titled "Please investigate the suspicious judging in the 2021 badminton national team selection competition" was uploaded to the Blue House National Petition board. By the morning of the 31st, it had gained about 2,500 supporters.

Jeong Gyeong-eun sought support for the petition on her Instagram, stating, "I believe that players who will compete in future national team selection competitions should be able to participate in a more fair and transparent selection process."

Jeong Gyeong-eun is a world-class player who won the bronze medal in women's doubles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and has maintained her skills steadily, including winning the 2019 Denmark Open. Currently, she ranks 10th in the world in women's doubles alongside Baek Hana (21, MG Saemaeul Geumgo).

Previously, Jeong Gyeong-eun participated in the national team selection competition held from the 18th to the 23rd in Muju, Jeonbuk, but was eliminated.

The Badminton Korea Association awarded the Taeguk mark to 12 female doubles players this year. Among them, seven players with high world rankings or strong Olympic prospects automatically retained their Taeguk marks or were exempted from the selection competition, continuing from last year.

Women's doubles pairs ranked 4th Sohee Lee - Seungchan Shin, 6th Soyoung Kim - Heeyong Gong, 9th Yena Jang - Hyerin Kim, and mixed doubles player ranked 6th Yujeong Chae (Incheon International Airport) were exempted from the selection competition.

Yena Jang - Hyerin Kim received exemption rights based on the retirement announcement of the Japanese team ranked 7th in the world (Misaki Matsutomo - Ayaka Takahashi), which is expected to raise their ranking to 8th.

Jeong Gyeong-eun and Baek Hana had to place within the top 5 in the selection competition to maintain their national team status. Baek Hana passed the selection in 3rd place and retained her Taeguk mark, but Jeong Gyeong-eun was pushed out of the top 5 and eliminated.

In her petition, Jeong Gyeong-eun raised suspicions of 'unfair selection,' stating, "There were rumors that some players were pre-selected among those who participated in the selection competition, and the said player was actually included in the final list."

Jeong Gyeong-eun claimed, "During the competition, I heard inappropriate remarks from a certain judge mentioning a specific player," and "Rumors spread rapidly as if the selection of a particular team's player had already been decided."

She also pointed out that "Among the six judges, three were coaches of players participating in the selection competition," suggesting that the composition of the judges itself could hinder fair evaluation.

Jeong Gyeong-eun added, "Before the official announcement of the final list, I heard the list of selected players from a certain player, and it exactly matched the officially announced list, which is suspicious."

She criticized, "Even with a high winning rate, unfairness and manipulation are possible through evaluation scores," and "Players have to compete in the selection competition without knowing the selection criteria other than their own winning rates, in a completely opaque selection system."

According to the Badminton Korea Association, Jeong Gyeong-eun recorded 9 wins and 4 losses in the league, ranking joint 7th. However, a player with a 7-7 record in the league received a high score from the judges and was included in the top 5, indicating that evaluation scores had a significant impact on the outcome.

Jeong Gyeong-eun appealed, "I hope a systematic regulation regarding the composition of judges will be established so that no player suffers damage anymore," and "I earnestly request a thorough investigation and another chance for me, who was unfairly eliminated."

She also requested, "Please discipline the judge who caused controversy with inappropriate remarks and transparently disclose the evaluation items, detailed scoring criteria, judge qualification requirements, and the list of judges to ensure the players' right to know during the selection competition."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.