Satwik-Chirag's opponent at China Masters, famous in Korea as Dori Papa and badminton's equivalent of K-drama star Gong Yoo

His game style might be as effective as the Indonesian Daddies (Hendra Setiawan and Md Ahsan), but Seung-jae is increasingly getting tagged with a similar nickname too: in the badminton universe, and the crazed Far East following, he is ‘Dori Papa’, tagged after his former new-born Dori, whose birth and every milestone gets followed by millions on Instagram.

Dori Papa’s earlier nuptials too received plenty of social media trends for everything from flower arrangement to wedding trousseau of his lovely wife. But ‘Dori Papa’ trends are at another level, taking badminton itself into exalted territory in a football and baseball-mad country.

Dori Papa has even reached popularity levels of Lee Yong-Dae, who was a Korean heartthrob before K-Pop took off, after his Olympic titles circa 2012. When he spoke of liking tonkatsu (pork deep fried cutlet), the Japanese savoury took off in Korean barbecues and chicken shops. After his 29th birthday recently, he posted, “Thank you everyone for wishing me on my last birthday in the 20s.”

The badminton itself has remained top tier. And the World’s title followed their wins at Super 1000 Malaysian Open, the Jeon Young Open, and the Indonesian Open earlier. Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho said the next target is winning gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles (LA). Koreans place Asian Games just below Olympics.

But before they make a play for Satwik-Chirag’s Asiad gold, they will have to face them in the China Masters final at Shenzhen. The not-so-secret part of the Korean success is their fast attack and defense. Even as ‘Dori Papa’ received warm welcome after his second world title, he had tweeted about his pride in watching the Taegeuki (South Korean national flag) flutter highest at Paris.

The pair has obviously been tough for every other combination to counter and everyone from contemporaries Vincent Wong (who called him Goat) and Fajar Alfian, have acknowledged their dominance. Park Joo-bong, now Korean coach, has proved a catalyst for the new pair to strike high notes very early and the year had started stupendously when Seo-Kim won the All England, the country’s first in 13 years.

Yet Paris had been as much a heartbreak for Seo Seung-jae as Satwik-Chirag. He had posted, “I’m seo Seung-jae a national badminton player. My second Paris Olympics came to an end today. Thanks to everyone for supporting me day and night. I’m sorry I could not meet your expectations. Last 3years we persevered through tough times, difficult situations. Although the desired goal was not achieved, I am relieved I left without regrets.” Proceeding to thank partners, directors, coaches, trainers, analysts and family, he saved the best for fans. “Even in unexpected places and times, I found that you support me for nothing. So even when I feel tired, and it’s hard to continue and I feel like giving up on the game, I could shoulder the responsibility till the end.

“From now on I’ll be a player who never stops challenging,” Seung-jae promised.

After winning the World title at Copenhagen in 2023 with Kang Min-hyuk, who proceeded to his compulsory military service, Seo reunited with Kim who he had previously played with from 2017 to 2018. The Koreans were off to a flyer with five titles on Tour in 2025 before winning the World’s.

Their’s is an interesting story because and Kim had been rivals in mixed doubles. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kim and his partner Jeong Na-eun defeated Seo and Chae Yu-jung in the mixed doubles semifinals, before winning silver.

Seo had told Yoo Jee-ho of Yohnap New Agency, “I will be concentrating on just one event this year, and I will try to put my body and my mind in the best condition possible,” Seo said. “I won’t dwell on the past and I will only worry about what I can do better going forward.”

For Satwik-Chirag to win their first title of 2025, there’s a formidable pairing waiting in the final, with the Korean favourite Seung-jae and his affable social media army of ‘Dori Papa’ fans.

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